Neutral
by AGKamon18
Summary: Neutral spies - spies who work for the good and bad. But what happens when a trouble-making, thrill-seeking, female neutral spy decides to spy on a certain blonde Egyptian and the Spirit of the Millennium Ring and then threatens to tell the 'Pharaoh?
1. Not Crazy

**AGKamon:** Hi people of the world! This is the Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction that won my poll.

**Bakura:** Only one person voted, you do know that, right?

**AGKamon:** Whatever. This is the first chapter, but I wanted to put the Prologue that shows a bit of my OC's past. And it doesn't reveal her name, I know that. However, this chapter takes place in her point of view for that exactly reason. And just to save time, I'll say the disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any form of it. The only thing I own is my OC whose name you're not learning until, like, the chapter or two. So, that's it...here it is - **Neutral**

**Bakura:** The whole Prologue is in _italics_, but the OC's thoughts are in _**italics and bold**_ and anything she emphasizes is in _italics and underlining_.

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><p><span>Prologue - 5 Years In The Past-<span>

"_I'm not crazy!" I exclaimed angrily. My midnight-blue eyes were blazing with rage. My black-haired mother was crying quietly on my tealnette father's shoulder, and three glasses-wearing psychiatrists watched me with bored expressions. I was fuming. These three quacks thought I was crazy; I was only eleven! What right did they have to start ruining my life?_

"_We never said you were; we stated that you have a few mental conditions that need to treated soon before you cause trouble for everyone you care about," one of them explained before I cut him off. _

"_Yeah, Yeah, I __heard__ what you said. I'm a pyromaniac, a kleptomaniac, and I have an explosion obsession, but you're just wrong! You just want to give me meds or stick me somewhere so you get paid; that's all people care about in this world! Money! I'm outta here," I ranted, storming out of the office and slamming the door behind me. Then I ran, I simply ran out of the building and into the pouring rain. _

_**How peaceful… **__Rain always gave me a sense of peace. I suddenly frowned. _

_**If I'm so into fire, why would I like the rain? It would put out any fires I started! Idiots… **__I chuckled to myself and casually strolled toward home, not caring that my I'd left my parents behind. The rain caused my dark-blue-almost-black hair that was shoulder to be plastered to my head. I didn't care._

"_Where do those docs even get the idea that I have all those problems? Why did Mom and Dad even take me there…? Do they think I'm crazy too?" I worried, quickly depressing myself. What if my parents believed them and tried to send me off somewhere? What would I do then? I don't wanna be locked up for the rest of my life! …Or until I turn 18, whichever would be correct. Pinching the bridge of my nose with one hand, I sighed deeply and clenched my other hand into a fist in frustration. Instead of heading home, I turned to go to the park. I needed to think, and the park would be quiet and empty if the deserted streets were any hint. _

"_I thought karma brought good things to good people. I'm a pretty good person, and I don't think I've done anything to deserve being classified as a nut," I reasoned with myself, sitting down on a damp swing in the abandoned playground. I twirled a strand of dark hair with my finger as I thought._

"_What if my parents __do__ believe them? They'll probably just send me off somewhere, thinking I'm too much trouble to deal with." Now, don't get me wrong, my parents loved me a lot. However, they never were very involved in my life, and they already had a bunch of stuff on their minds. The loud tune of music, more specifically the song _'Pyromania' _played out from the bag attached to my belt. My cell phone._

"_How ironic," I grumbled, pulling out my phone and staring at the text. _

_Where r u? -Mom_

_I rolled my eyes and replied that I was at the park. And wanted to be left alone, I'd come back in due time. This happened sometimes, I'd run off and end up in the park. It wasn't because I was unhappy or anything like that, I just wanted to be here in the park. The cherry blossom trees were now void of the pink blossoms that I enjoyed watching float in the wind during spring. But I didn't mind. I simply wanted to think, and my parents knew I'd come home on my own. I always did; this was just a part of being related to me. After about an hour, I realized that sitting here wasn't going to accomplish anything. So I stretched briefly before jogging in the direction my house was in._

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><p><em><span>At My House-<span>_

_I entered the house as silently as a cat stalks it prey. That's how I did everything. Faintly, I heard my parents talking in the kitchen, and of course, me being me, I listened._

"_I understand where you're coming from, Danny, but she's our daughter!" That was my mother. I could picture the worried, almost panicked expression in her dark-blue eyes._

"_Our daughter who has mental conditions that need to be taken care of, and I don't want her to be on medications for the rest of her life. Isabel, I don't want her to be worse off than she already is." And that was my father. I could also picture the unusually calm expression in his equally dark-blue eyes. _

_**This is starting to make sense. So I was right, they do want to send me off somewhere. At least Dad does.**_

"_We can't send her off to some facility. You know how she likes to wander on her own, she'd go even more crazy if she couldn't do that," Mom protested. _

_**Even more crazy? So they do think I'm a loon!**_

"_Her problems are going to cause us and her more problems than that! Pyromania - the urge to set fires, kleptomania - the urge to steal, and an obsession to see or make things explode. With any of those three, she could be caught by the police and stuck in a hospital anyway. I just don't want any of us to go through all that stress…" my father replied, sounding as calm as ever. I narrowed my midnight-blue eyes toward the door. How could he stay so calm during this?_

"…_Maybe you're right, Daniel…" my mother sighed._

"_Now let's go see if she's returned, so we can…break the news," Dad said. _

_**There's no way I'm going to some loony bin! **__I raced silently up to my room and locked the door tight, barricading it for good measure. Then I took a fairly large backpack and a messenger bag out of my closet. Pausing for a moment, I started to gather all my money, the equipment I used for my hobby (spying on people), and some extra clothes; then I stuffed them into the bags._

"_They wanna send me away; I'll send myself away…" I muttered. I grabbed a rain-proof jacket, putting it on as I opened the window. I grabbed my bags, and stepped onto the windowsill. _

_**Good thing my house is one story… **__I looked back one last time before jumping out the window and sprinting out into the rainy night. _

"_Good-bye…" I narrated to myself, "to my life as I know it. From now on, I'm a runaway, never returning to my birthplace for reasons only I know. I will not trust another soul, and I will find ways to make money. I will struggle for a while, but I will make it through. I will prove that I'm not completely crazy…" I chuckled, "then again, is there really anyone in this world of ours that is completely sane?"_

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><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> That's pretty much my personal quote of mine that I think of randomly: 'Is there really anyone in this world of ours that is completely sane?' And I just thought that up one day, she seemed like someone who would say that. Yes, she's a runaway. She'll meet Marik and Bakura in the next chapter, but probably not in the way you think.

**Bakura:** *sarcastic* Oh fun. *rolls eyes*

**AGKamon:** Do you dislike me for some reason?

**Bakura:** I'm always like this. At least those other annoying OC's of yours are in a different building since their in a different fanfiction.

**AGKamon:** Can you sign out the chapter, Bakura?

**Bakura:** No.

**AGKamon:** Fine, I'll do it, but you're awfully lazy. Read and review people! *waves while holding Bakura's arm to force him to wave*

**Bakura:** *glares* Let go of me before I send you to the Shadow Realm...

**AGKamon: ***lets go and steps away* Er...right...


	2. Blackmail

**AGKamon:** Welcome back! *waves excitably*

**Bakura:** *mutters* Why did I get stuck here?

**AGKamon:** Anyway, I am extremely proud to say that this story has already gotten a review. So I thank you katz341 for taking time to review, and I did update soon. Don't worry about how good your review is, I'm just happy to get one since I almost never get any.

**Bakura:** Start the chapter already.

**AGKamon:** I really need to get Marik in here; he'd be nicer to me. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bakura, or any character in here besides my OC. The first part of the chapter is in the OC's point of view, then you'll know when it switches to Bakura. Also, you'll get to learn the OC's name in this chapter, isn't that great?

**Bakura:** Sure, whatever. Start the chapter before I have to threaten this girl with **another** trip to Shadow Realm.

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><p>I peeked out of the quiet alleyway, hiding in a building's shadow while I watched my prey. Both were young men; they were probably around my age of seventeen from their looks, give or take a year. I'd been watching and listening to them for the past month; I had nothing else to do. No criminals had given my any jobs, and the police or an investigator haven't called me up either. I had discovered that the psychiatrists were right a long time ago, but I'd just given in to my urges. So I'd commonly steal, set fires, or blow things up. However, even if the police caught me, I'm too much of an asset to them for them to throw me in jail. But I hadn't gotten <strong>any<strong> jobs, and I felt no urges, so I was bored and decided to spy on these two. Unfortunately, I was finally getting bored again; they hadn't done **anything** interesting yet! But, I knew many ways to excite my prey, and I won't leave them alone until I get something for all the trouble I've gone through to follow them for this long.

Grinning at my own plan, I ran back through the alley and popped out on the other side, a few feet away from where I was previously. I was also on the other side of my prey.

_Perfect._ Innocently, while the tanned, blond one had his back turned away from me, I snatched the wallet I'd spotted earlier out of his back pants pocket, and neither of them knew the wiser. What would be the fun if they didn't know? Exactly, that would be absolutely no fun, so I made sure that one of them would notice the disappearance of the wallet.

"Hm?" I heard the blond hum. He checked his pocket and shouted, "What the he- where's my wallet?" I stifled laughing at his over-the-top reaction. This was certainly heating everything up. I noticed the white-haired, surprisingly pale once looking at me suspiciously. Just to add to the fun I was having, I waved the wallet in the air at him as I strutted back toward the alley where I'd been watching them from before.

"That was great!" I whispered excitably, making sure to not be too loud. Then I took the money (and everything else) out of the wallet and placed something else inside. Now I just had to wait for them to find me.

_Yes, this was getting **much** more interesting..._

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><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I listened to my, uh, 'accomplice' babble on about his plan and what he wanted to do with the Pharaoh's power, blah, blah, blah. In reality, I was barely hearing a word his said with that annoying voice of his. I really didn't care about his plans (or him for that matter), all I cared about was the Millennium Rod he possessed and getting it for myself. However, something was even distracting me from that; there was a presence nearby that had me slightly concerned. The only reason why it bothered me at all was that I had been sensing it quite often recently. Was someone following us?

"Hm?" I heard Marik say. I saw him check his back pants pocket and then ask, "What the he- where's my wallet?" I raised an eyebrow and glanced around. Someone caught my attention at once, soon, **she** noticed my gaze as well. She waved the wallet in the air at me before she practically skipped into a nearby alleyway.

_Stupid mortal…_

"Marik…" I growled, and pointed the girl out to him just before she disappeared. His temper flared as he stormed off to follow her. I sighed and reluctantly followed the Egyptian and caught him with the girl pushed against the brick wall. She looked, surprisingly, thrilled that we'd caught her. Her hair was shoulder-length, dark blue (almost black), and there were two longer pieces on each side of her face that reached her knees. Her eyes (which seemed to sparkling with happiness) were the same color, only slightly lighter. She innocently waved at Marik, while the wallet was in her other hand.

_Why does she look so happy? Marik may not be the most threatening person, but who would look so glad to be caught stealing?_

"Hey, what'cha need?" she asked happily, grinning.

"Where's my wallet?" Marik threatened.

"Hm, the only wallet I have is this one…" she taunted, blatantly putting the wallet in Marik's sight. He looked even more angry at how easily she stolen his stuff and was now rubbing it in his face.

"Simply take the wallet back," I ordered impatiently. The blond did so and stormed off; I would've followed him, but the smirk that the girl was wearing as she watched Marik leave seemed suspicious. Suddenly, I heard Marik cry out and I looked in his direction. He was holding his hand as if it were in pain, and his wallet was on the ground, on fire. Immediately, I glared accusingly at the girl. She, once again, seemed oddly happy about the whole situation.

"YES!" the girl exclaimed, "it worked! It's about time I blew up a wallet…"

"What about my money?" Marik shouted. The girl pulled a small wad of money and some cards out of her pocket and held them out to the him. Marik snatched them back and was about to walk away again when the girl asked something.

"So what's all your talk about Pharaohs, Millennium Items, and so on…?" Marik froze and looked back at her in shock.

"How the heck do you know that?" he asked.

"**I**," she pointed to herself, "am a spy who is hired by both criminals and the police. Therefore, I am neutral and help both sides. But, I haven't gotten any jobs that have paid well enough or lasted very long, so I decided to spy on some random people for fun. You two seemed very interesting, and boy was I right! I can't believe I had to **reveal **myself to you, it's already been a month of spying…" I stared at the girl in disbelief.

"How much did you hear?" I questioned.

"Everything that the two of you have said or heard over the last month."

"And you did this…just because you were bored?" Marik asked slowly. She nodded, as if it was the normal thing in the world.

"Well, I had already set a few things on fire, stolen…stuff, and blown up a few things, I figured I should do something where I **don't** have the risk of getting caught by the cops. Even though they wouldn't arrest anyways, it would still be an issue. If I'm still bored next week…I'll probably set something on fire…again." I raised my eyebrow again. Was this girl serious?

"What do we do Bakura? She knows…everything," Marik whispered worriedly in my ear. I shoved him away and grabbed the girl's arm. She seemed unconcerned as I continued to drag her toward Marik's boat. We'd keep her there until I figured out what to do with her. Marik would probably make her into a mind slave, and that won't help anyone. Especially me, those mind slaves seem fairly incapable of helping anyone or doing anything right.

"Where are ya takin' me?" she asked.

"Somewhere," I growled.

"Can I set somethin' on fire there? Or blow up more people's wallets?" she questioned. I mentally questioned why she wasn't struggling to get away at all.

"What is your problem?" Marik questioned, grabbing the girl's other arm so she couldn't try anything. Although, I doubt she would've done a thing since she wasn't trying to get away from us.

"I have more than one problem, which one do ya wanna hear about?" she retorted.

"All of them. Why did you feel the need to blow up my wallet?"

"Well, a bunch of quacks said that I'm a pyromaniac and a kleptomaniac. Plus, I have a small obsession with seeing things explode…I think that's it. Oh, and I'm a total thrill-seeker. By the way…any of you have anyone ya want me to spy on? I seriously need some money to buy some more…stuff."

"No we don't-" I started when Marik gave me a look to say to rethink that.

"She could spy on the Pharaoh, Bakura," he suggested.

"There's that stuff on Pharaohs again!" My head was starting to ache. Having to be near Marik for this long was bad enough, but now I had to deal with girl too? I hit the back of her head in an attempt to shut her up. Needless to say, she kept talking.

"What the heck…uh, Bakura?" **Great**, she knows my name now. Then again, if she's been spying on us for as long as she says she has, this girl probably already knew my name.

"Stop shouting," I commanded, sending a glare her way. She didn't seem to care.

_Why isn't she scared at all?_

"But shouting is really fun…I can already tell annoying you is gonna suppress some of my boredom. Can I hang out with you guys? Whatever you're planning, it seems like you're gonna need someone like me to spy on someone else . Or at least plant transmitters, cameras and stuff like that. And it sounds evil, which is fun for me. If not…I could find this 'Pharaoh' and spill all your plans to him. But if you kept me on your side, I would have no need to betray you, now would I?" Now she was blackmailing us. This girl knew what she was doing.

"I think we should agree to her terms; we can't have her telling anything to the Pharaoh," Marik reasoned.

"Fine," I agreed, muttering quite a few curses under my breath.

"Blackmail always works!" the girl exclaimed, easily breaking free of our grasp despite her smaller overall size and the fact there were two of us. She then asked, "so names?"

_If she's been spying on us for so long, shouldn't she know out names already? Then again…why should I care?_

"I am the great Marik Ishtar," my blonde 'accomplice' stated proudly. He then pointed to me and said, "and that's Bakura."

"Well, I am the amazing Kayla Kossori!" I looked at the two of them in disbelief, this girl was trying to say she was better than Marik?

"How are **you **amazing?" Marik questioned.

"Can you set buildings on fire, steal things, and make things explode for five years without even being suspected by the cops?"

"…"

"I thought not; can you spy on two villains for a month, learn all their plans, and they don't find you until you want them to?"

"…"

"Exactly, therefore, I am amazing while you are just great."

"I have hundreds of mind slaves all over the city, all under my control."

"I can get people to do whatever I want with blackmail after I learn their deepest, darkest secrets. Whoever said knowledge was power was a genius! Now, can we do something exciting so I don't decide to leave and blow someone else's wallet to pieces?"

"Fine, we'll need you to-" Marik started.

"Plant tracking devices and recorders on Yugi," I interrupted.

"Well, uh, I said I'd do whatever you what, but I need to know what you're planning. Who the heck is the Pharaoh and Yugi?" she asked. I sighed and explained everything to her quickly, just wanting to get her out of my hair.

"Great, and this 'Yugi/Pharaoh' looks like what?" she questioned afterward.

"Just look for his absurd hair. It's all spiked in a crazy style, and three colors: pink, black, and blonde," Marik replied. She nodded and sprinted off to find her target.

"Ugh, that girl is going to give me more headaches than you will, I swear," I muttered, rubbing my temples.

"I don't know, I have a feeling she'll be able to assist us, Bakura," Marik contradicted. Suddenly, a soft crackling sound interrupted us, and it was coming from behind my ear.

"What the heck?" I mumbled.

"Are the communicators working?" a familiar female voice asked quietly.

"How did you get these on us?" Marik questioned.

"No time to explain, I found this Yugi-guy. He's alone. Do you just want me to install the tracking device and transmitter? Or should I follow him around for a bit?" Her voice was quiet, as if she was whispering. It was a nice change.

"Just the devices, for now," I answered.

"All right, I'll meet up with you later." The crackling stopped.

"She's good…" Marik commented, trying to find the device that was probably hidden behind his ear as well. He couldn't.

"That barely took five minutes," I said, almost admiring her abilities. **Almost**, I don't admire **anyone**.

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><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> I love Kayla Kossori's character! She's such an interesting person.

**Bakura:** Not to mention annoying...

**Marik:** Hi AG! *waves*

**AGKamon:** Oh my gosh! Hi Marik! *waves back*

**Bakura:** I'm surrounded by idiotic mortals. What has my existence been brought down to? I'm being forced to participate in the author's notes of an annoying fanfiction authoress.

**AGKamon:** Marik! Bakura's being a total jerk to me! What do I do?

**Marik:** Just wait until Kayla comes into the author's notes; he'll be too busy keeping her in line to bother you.

**AGKamon:** Can you sign us out, Marik? Bakura made me do it last chapter... *glares at said white-haired person*

**Marik:** I'd be glad to. Keep reading and keep reviewing! *waves goodbye*

**AGKamon:** *waves as well*

**Bakura: ***is contemplating on whether to send them to the Shadow Realm*


	3. AlterEgo

**AGKamon:** Hi! I'm back!

**Marik:** Me too!

**Bakura:** ...Get the darn chapter started...

**AGKamon:** Why are you being so difficult?

**Marik:** Just ignore him. Kayla's arriving here at the end of the chapter. He'll be too busy after that. I'll do the disclaimer if you don't mind, AG?

**AGKamon:** I don't mind at all Marik, thank you.

**Marik:** No problem. AG here doesn't own, me, Bakura, or anything else related to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. But she does own her crazy little OC, Kayla Kossori.

**Bakura:** Crazy is one word to describe her. Start the chapter. **Now.**

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><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

"So when do you think our little spy will be back?" Marik wondered as we sat on his boat. I shrugged silently. It had about three hours since that girl had left to spy on the Pharaoh. I didn't care whether she came back or not, as long as she didn't tell anything we'd told her to anyone else. Especially the Pharaoh.

"I can't believe that girl was able to spy on everything we did for a month and we had no idea," I said. I should have detected something was following us earlier; why didn't I? This girl was too good at this for her own good.

_She said the police wouldn't arrest her, even if she was caught. I wonder why she has such immunity...? Maybe it involves the fact that she also spies for them and the villains of the city. Perhaps she's worth too much as an ally for them to care what she does..._

"I wonder how long she's been spying on people…and burning things, stealing, and setting off explosions. She's quite good at what she does."

"She already said she's been at it for five years," I replied, rolling my eyes.

_Why did I remember that? I don't care about anything unless it benefits me, how does the fact that she's been causing trouble for five years help me in anyway?_

"Hey boys, what did I miss?" a familiar, female voice shouted from above us. Marik jumped in surprise and looked up. There, standing on the top of the boat, was the very girl we'd been discussing.

"How long have you been there?" I questioned, not bothering to look at her. It didn't surprise me that she'd spied on us again.

"An hour. I could've watched the two of you longer, but I went back to my place to gather everything before my landlord noticed I was moving out, found all the bomb-making materials, fire-starters, and stolen items, and called the cops. That would've made the first time I was caught, but I'm not taking the chance. Even though they wouldn't arrest me anyways," she answered, tossing three medium-sized suitcases down to us. One brown, one red, one blue.

"The brown one is filled with my stuff, so don't touch it. The red one is stolen…stuff that I really have no use for, but felt like stealing something. The blue one is filled with bombs, bomb-making stuff, and stuff for starting fires. I wouldn't suggest touching that one either. Although, the red one, you're free to go through. You might find some use for some of the stuff in there. Now…where do I stay?" the girl explained. I was strangely curious, and popped open the red suitcase, instantly surprised at how full it was, but it was nothing compared to how much I used to steal in the past. This girl said she'd been stealing for five years, this was it?

"I thought you said you'd been escaping the police for five years…? This is all you have?" I said, a hint of a mocking tone in my voice.

"Actually, I pawned two suitcases full of stuff like that a few weeks ago. Taking up too much space for my liking. So, Marik, where should I put my stuff?" Marik sighed at the fact he was going to have to keep her on his boat. I almost pitied him, keeping that girl on his boat for who knows how long.

"Follow me," he replied, entering the boat with her in tow. She'd convinced him to carry her remaining suitcases. I returned my attention to the suitcase.

_Two more of these? I might actually be slightly impressed with this girl. And that's a difficult feat to accomplish._ It was filled with mostly clothes, both women's and men's, strangely. There were a few expensive-looking pieces of jewelry toward the bottom of the case as well. I studied them.

_She has expensive tastes…_

"Impressed with what you see?" the girl's voice rung out from behind my ear again.

"How did you even install this device without me knowing?" I asked. I heard Marik's voice talking to her in the background.

"You're a heavy sleeper, you know that, Bakura? So are you, Marik," she taunted, giggling to herself. I heard Marik shout something that sounded like 'WHAT?'.

"You snuck into my house while I was sleeping and installed this?"

"Indeed I did. Also, you might find a few of your things in that suitcase. I couldn't resist!" she replied before the sound stopped. I looked toward the bottom of the case again, only to find a couple of my other half's belongings there. I left them there; they belonged to my weaker half, and therefore, I had no use for them.

_This girl is different, that's for sure._

"Hey Bakura!" the girl exclaimed a few minutes later, jumping into the chair Marik had previously been seated in.

"Get out of that chair!" Marik ordered.

"Ya know, I don't think I will," she remarked, interlocking her fingers behind her head and leaning back in a relaxed manner. Before Marik noticed the empty chair that I had been sitting in before I started looking through the case, I stood up and sat back down in it. I simply couldn't resist.

"I believe you're going to have to settle for standing," I said as I glanced at Marik's expression. He was fuming and I managed to catch her winking at me out of the corner of my eye.

"Why are you encouraging her?" Marik exclaimed. I shrugged.

"I'm not. I simply find your over-the-top reactions to such small matters to be quite amusing. So…uh, Kayla, was it? What could've possibly happened to you that-" I started, she interrupted. Normally, I would've sent someone to the Shadow Realm for interrupting me while I talked, but once again, I was strangely curious about this girl.

"Nothing happened. I had a normal childhood, only child, but normal. However, when my parents discovered all my problems when I was eleven, they wanted to send me off to the loony bin. I ran away so I could stay free, starting fires, making things explode, and stealing things I needed and things I will never use most of the way. That's my story."

"That's...simple. How weird," Marik commented.

"So anyway, half the clothes in that case I will never use. Go through it and see if you two will wear any of it."

"You mean the men's clothing?" I questioned.

"Yea, I wanted to see if it was easier to steal men's than women's. They're the same, who knew?" she replied. I shook my head in disbelief while Marik crouched next to the case to shuffle through it.

"You stole all of this?" he said in surprise.

"That's everything over the last two months actually. I sold everything else." I raised an eyebrow again at the girl.

"So if you ran away at eleven and have been stealing for five years, that makes you sixteen. Correct?" I inquired.

"My birthday was yesterday, I'm seventeen actually. I celebrated by blowing up a fire hydrant!"

"I heard about that, they say you flooded a couple blocks," I noted.

"Why do you blow up the strangest things? Wallets? Fire Hydrants?" Marik questioned, apparently finding something he liked as he held up a piece of clothing to see it better.

"It's fun. That's all, I'm thrill-seeker." She shrugged dismissively, "although, Marik, you wanting to take over the world and be a Pharaoh. My tastes in activities are not that weird compared to yours."

"Don't forget I could make you into my mind-slave if I wanted! With my Millennium Item…where is it?"

"Check my room. I think I snatched it; it doesn't concern me. I just wanted to see your reaction." Marik sighed angrily and retreated to the inside of the boat.

"Why did you spy on us, of all people?" I wondered.

"You had an interesting look to you; I could tell I'd get somethin' interesting outta ya. Were you a thief at one time?"

"How did you know?"

"You've got the look of one. I just know. We should go stealing together sometime, it'd be fun and I'd get more stuff."

"I don't steal very often anymore, haven't in a long time. I've gotten too busy."

"That's too bad, it's a real stress reliever!" she replied. I glanced over and saw her press something behind her ear, probably the device she uses to communicate with us.

"Marik, did you find your…whatever-it-is yet? …no? I coulda sworn I threw it beneath the bed with my…Marik, do **not** go under the bed! …why? It's where I stored all my bomb stuff, so don't touch it! You're asking why I'd store something I stole from you with my bomb materials? I don't really know the answer to that myself. Just let me get in there and get it for you…what do you mean you don't trust me to not blow up the boat? Do ya really think I'd blow up a boat, while I was **still on it**? Yes, that was a dumb thing to say, glad you agree." She got up at that point and walked toward where Marik probably was. I sighed. This girl was a strange one, that's one thing that's certain.

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

"Okay Marik, how badly did you mess up the room I just set up?" I questioned, peeking into the room he'd given me. Surprisingly, it didn't look any different. I found the blonde standing quite a long distance away from the bed, staring almost, fearfully at it. Smart boy. I leaned down, peeked under the bed, and saw a glint of gold.

"There we go, just as I thought," I said, pulling it out and holding it out to the young man. He grabbed it roughly from my hand, luckily, I had been wearing gloves. Otherwise, one of the sharp parts of it could've scraped me.

"I apologize Marik, but kleptomania is the compulsive urge to steal. You're going to have to deal with it, but if it's anything, I'll **try** not to steal that…thing again. Better?" I, at least, knew when to apologize. Even if I wasn't completely sane. Then again, who is?

"Whatever," he snapped. The tanned boy seemed surprised that I'd apologized, even shocked at the thought.

"You didn't think I'd apologize, did you?" I asked, he stayed silent and I took it as a 'yes'.

"Just 'cause I'm a little off in the head, doesn't mean I don't know when to apologize and back off. Whatever that thing is, you don't want me touching it. I'll try my best to respect that; in return, respect my terms of privacy. Which means: don't go through my stuff without my permission. Deal?" He still stayed silent until he agreed with a single word:

"Fine."

* * *

><p><span>A Few Weeks Later:<span>

"It's about time you got me involved in one of your schemes!" I complained to Marik. He glared at me from across the table we were discussing our latest plan at. It had been weeks since I started hanging around with Marik and Bakura, and they finally devised a plan that I could be a part of.

"Anyway, Marik, care to explain your plan that I'm sure is just **brilliant**?" Bakura remarked. I smirked at the obvious sarcasm, and the smirk grew wider when I realized that Marik didn't get it.

"Since your other half is friends with the Pharaoh and his friends, Bakura, we are going to use that to our advantage." The two had explained the whole story with the Millennium Items, and the spirits taking over their host's body stuff some time earlier. It was fairly simple to understand if you had a mind that was open to new ideas; I happened to have such a mind.

"Especially since your so good at acting like him too," I added. They'd stopped questioning the extent of my knowledge of their lives a while ago. I knew quite a lot about the pair.

"Go on Marik," Bakura ordered.

"I say we put Bakura in some sort of dangerous position, and use that so Kayla and I can earn the trust of the Pharaoh. Or at least a few of his friends."

"You mean, injure him and we act like the heroes by 'saving him'?"

"Exactly."

"Who said I agreed?" Bakura questioned, narrowing his eyes at us.

"….And you don't? Because I was planning on acting like your girlfriend to make it more believable. I've always wanted to use those French classes I took ages ago for something!" I replied.

"French classes?" Marik wondered.

"Girlfriend?" the spirit wondered at the same time.

"Yeah. You guys wanna see my totally amazing alter ego?" I asked excitably.

"Why not?"

"We might as well see how much you can change your looks. Maybe I'll agree…probably not though."

"Alright! I'll be back!" I said before rushing off to my room.

_Okay, okay…where's my 'good-girl' outfit? _I wondered, digging through my things, finally pulling out a set of clothes with a triumphant smile. Then I set to changing my appearance.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Yay! Chapter 3! What's gonna happen next?

**Marik:** Why does she get to be Bakura's girlfriend?

**Kayla:** *prances into the room* Originally, I did fall for you, Marik. But AG changed that because she thought my character would fit better with Bakura. Speaking of him, hi Bakura! *glomps him*

**Bakura:** Get off me, mortal! *attempts to shake Kayla off*

**AGKamon:** Anyway...who wants to sign out the chapter? I say we find some way to force Bakura to do something next chapter.

**Kayla:** Oh! I've got an idea for that! *gets away from Bakura and whispers in AG's ear*

**AGKamon:** That might work...Marik! Please sign us out.

**Marik:** Alright. Read and review. Also, thanks for continuing to review katz341!


	4. Monique LeBlanc

**AGKamon:** Hi! We're back!

**Bakura:** *rolls eyes* Oh good.

**AGKamon:** Disclaimer Bakura.

**Bakura:** One word, no.

**Kayla:** What if...I convinced AG to change the story so I'd end up with Marik...? *sits on Marik's lap and wraps her arms around her neck*

**Bakura:** Fine. *mutters curses under breath* AGKamon doesn't own me, Marik, or anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! She only owns that manipulative OC of hers, Kayla.

**Kayla:** Thanks Bakura! *gets up and hugs Bakura*

**AGKamon:** There's some French words in this chapter, translations will be at the end.

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V<span>

I sighed.

"You're not going to agree even with her change in appearance, are you?" Marik asked. I scoffed.

"Of course not. I simply want to see the extent of her appearance-changing abilities."

"Since when do you care?"

"I can't answer that, Marik. I really have no idea." I shook my head.

_Why do I care at all about this girl? I simply can't help but be curious about her when I shouldn't care at all. What's wrong with me lately?_

"_Bonjour! Je m'appelle Monique LeBlanc!_" That call was definitely her (was she speaking French?), and Marik and I turned to see how much she'd changed. Marik's jaw dropped, and my lips parted slightly in surprise. She'd braided the long strands of hair on either side of her face, and she must've been wearing contacts, as her eyes were now emerald-green. There was a permanent blush fixed upon her cheeks, probably from make-up. She was wearing a short white tank-top with a low neckline, and a silver short-sleeved shirt underneath. Her jeans were a pale blue, and there were a pair of off-white sneakers on her feet. There was a white belt around her waist with a small blue and light-gray bag connected to it. It seemed as though she'd applied make-up to her eyes in some way as well.

"Wow…" Marik breathed.

"Was that French?" I asked, quickly regained my composure.

"Indeed, _mon amis._ Now, will you agree to the plan since I went to all the dreadful trouble of getting ready? _S'il vous plaît_ _Monsieur_ Bakura…?"

"Yeah! Come on Bakura, how can you argue when the girl's speaking French?" Marik added, jumping up from his chair and slinging his arm around her shoulders. I sighed again; her abilities were impressive, I'll give her that.

"Fine, how are you going to injure me?" I asked warily. They grinned.

"Oh nothin' serious. We're not gonna put ya on Death's door or anythin'." She'd suddenly reverted back to her usual, non-French way of speaking.

"Mhm. I was thinking of a stab wound…maybe on your arm…" Marik mused, eyeing me.

"I'd play the girlfriend who you protected from getting hurt. You'd play the protective boyfriend who's been successfully keeping a long-distance relationship with me, and I was finally able to move out here to see you. We had met back in England where I was the new girl from France, we'd bonded instantly and became friends. We started going out six months later. Both of us were heartbroken when you moved out here, but we kept our relationship going. We were on a date or somethin' when we're attacked. Marik would play the innocent bystander who came to our rescue…I was thinking Marik could use the name Namu," she explained, "I'll have the name Monique LeBlanc."

"Did you have this all planned out?" I questioned. She nodded.

"As soon as Marik explained the plan; I started thinking up a story to tell the Pharaoh and his friends. Aren't I a quick thinker?"

"I've actually had this idea for a while…" Marik said. I rolled my eyes.

"Who are we meeting?"

"I was personally thinking a few of the Pharaoh's friends…Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner, and his grandfather, Solomon Moto. The Pharaoh is nowhere near them, so there's no way he can protect them from us, or say that we're not who we say we are. What do you think?" she suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, Bakura?" Marik inquired.

"It's not the worst idea I've heard. Let's go somewhere near them for when you injure me; that way, if they check, the blood will be on the ground. Now, who's going to stab me?"

"I'll do it. I always wear gloves, so there won't be any fingerprints," Kayla offered.

"Are you sure you can handle it? What if you get blood on your glove?" Marik asked.

"I can do it; I've seen some pretty brutal things. It's not like I'm gonna kill him. If there's blood on my glove, I'll say I tried to stop the bleeding with it. Easy," she replied. I smirked at her confidence, did she really have what it takes to stab another person? Even though it obviously won't kill me.

* * *

><p><span>At The Alley:<span>

"Are you sure about this?" Marik worried, "I'll do it if you want."

"I'm fine Marik! Now stop distracting me!" she snapped. I impatiently held my arm my out to her.

"Get on with it. I'm getting impatient," I growled.

"Marik, stay," Kayla commanded while taking a grip on my arm. And without a second thought from her, I felt metal pierce the skin of my upper arm.

_Without a thought, I didn't actually think she had the nerve to do it…_

"It didn't hurt too much, did it?" she asked, removing the blade as quickly as it went in. I chuckled.

"I've faced a lot worse…" I replied. She then shed her left glove (apparently, she's left-handed and used that hand to stab me…getting blood on her glove in the process) and pressed it on the wound.

"Marik, come replace my hand while I attempt to revert to being the distraught girlfriend who's life now seems to be on a downward spiral because of this!"

"…what?" Marik questioned, now applying pressure to my bleeding arm. She paid him no mind.

"Start acting like your other half so I have a hint on how much I'll have to act," Kayla whispered to me. I rolled my eyes and faded into my other half's disgustingly innocent demeanor, and added the almost stereo-typical British accent.

"You mean like this, Kayla?" I asked.

"Mhm, and now I'll revert to my fake-innocent-side…" There was a pause.

"Well?" Marik inquired. Suddenly, she put my good arm over her shoulders and clung tightly to my shirt, tears threatening to pour from her eyes.

"Bakura, _mon amour_, why did you protect me? I could've taken anything as long as nothing happened to you!" she cried, convincingly.

_How many talents does this girl have?_

"Alright then. It'll be easy for me to play the innocent bystander…" Marik remarked. That's how the three of us ended up stumbling out of the alleyway, only to meet the Pharaoh's friends.

"Hey look!" a feminine voice called out, "it's Bakura, and he's hurt!" Kayla said her name was Téa, so the blonde must be Joey, and the old man was obviously Mr. Solomon Moto. There was no reason for me to learn their names previously.

"What happened?" Joey questioned.

"He-he was j-just trying to protect me…" the girl clinging to me whimpered.

"I found them being attacked by some man. He ran off when I came along," Marik clarified, "do you know him? Neither of them will say anything. She keeps crying, and he hasn't done anything really."

"We know Bakura, never seen her before. Hey you, who're you?" Joey turned to her. She sniffled and looked at the blonde with teary eyes.

"S-sorry. I'm Bakura's girlfriend, Monique LeBlanc. I-I finally saved up enough money to move here to be him, and now this happens!" 'Monique' replied, then breaking down again and mumbling a mixture of French and English that I couldn't decipher.

"…Monique? Are you alright?" I suddenly spoke up, contorting my voice so I sounded like I was in pain, and my other half.

"_Oui, mon amour._ I'm fine…" she responded. I then turned to Joey, who was kneeling in front of me.

"…Joey?"

"Bakura, what happened?"

"It happened so fast…all I remember is needing to protect Monique…" I explained before falling silent again.

"It's good that I found all of you. They need to get to a hospital," Marik said.

"I agree, I'll take them both," Solomon replied, "Joey, give us a hand."

"…Monique, was it? You need to let go of Bakura, it'll be easier for the boys to get him in the taxi…" Téa comforted, pulling the other girl away from me. Joey had hailed a taxi that drove by us, just by chance I might add.

"O-okay, but I need to go with him, _Mademoiselle_." Soon, 'Monique', Mr. Moto, and I all piled into the taxi. To keep up the boyfriend-girlfriend act, I didn't struggle when she pulled me toward her so I'd use her as support for staying upright.

"He'll be alright. I'll call you when there's news," the old man said before the taxi drove away, leaving Marik with the Pharaoh's two friends.

_Everything's going according to plan. Marik, your end of the plan better not become a failure._ The ride to the hospital was silent, and the diagnosis the doctor gave to me wasn't surprising. I was stabbed, and had to rest for a few days. It **definitely **took a genius to figure that out.

* * *

><p><span>A Few Days Later, At Night:<span>

"…You're still here?" I questioned irritably. Her dark-blue eyes shifted to me.

"Mhm. I coulda gone to find Marik, but his plans tend to fail, don't they? I figured I'd have more luck staying with you. Plus, who else is gonna keep you from hurting anyone when I'm gone?" she replied.

"Whatever, I'm leaving tonight, and you're coming with me. I don't care whether I'm 'recovered' or not; I've been through worse, I'll survive."

"Great! I've been getting bored." I sighed, some things about this girl never change. Suddenly, the old man walked in. She grinned, but moved her head so that he didn't notice. Uncaringly, I stood up.

"Bakura? You need to rest!" he insisted.

"Sorry old man, but you just became a pest," she said, stepping behind the elderly man and pressing a pressure point. Within a second, the man lay unconscious at our feet.

"Let's go Bakura! I've been wantin' to steal something for a few days," she remarked, pulling me behind her. Usually, I would've sent anyone to Shadow Realm for touching me without permission. But she was different, for some reason, no matter how tiresome being around her gets, the thought of doing anything to hurt her sickens me. It's something I don't plan on thinking about any time soon. At the current time, her antics are what I'll have to deal with; she's more help than Marik's been so far, so I think I'll keep her around for a little while longer.

"What's the plan?" she asked when we got outside.

"Marik said we should do everything we can to get in the Battle City Finals."

"Only one of us has to, I can just sneak on with you. We could steal a bunch of those Locator Card things and a Duel Disk."

"Or, you could steal a Duel Disk for me."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"I've never seen you duel, you need to do something."

"Fine I'll steal the thing, but for you information, I actually have a deck. I'm just usually too busy to really duel anyone. See ya in a bit, wait here!" And then she was gone.

_I give her ten minutes until she's back. I wonder why she insists on staying around Marik and I; we're not threatening her to stay, even with the information she has on us. She could leave anytime she wants._ An arm being slung around my shoulders broke my train of thought.

"Here ya go, a freshly stolen Duel Disk. Now we gotta find a couple of unsuspecting duelists. Shall we?"

"How long did that take you?" I asked.

"I dunno, a few minutes perhaps. There was a kid with a Duel Disk and a Locator Card around the corner. I just swiped it and ran, he was none the wiser. Where do ya think we'll find duelists this late at night?" she explained, handing me the Duel Disk which I took and snapped onto my arm.

"How would I know? I've been stuck in the hospital."

"So have I!"

"No one ever said you had to stay…" I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry if I actually care about people's well-being. Just because you're willing to get stabbed, doesn't mean that I don't care if you recover."

_Why does she care at all?_

"Let's just find some duelists," I interjected, walking off in a random direction.

"Oh no, you are not getting out of this conversation!"

"…If you really want to finish this conversation even though it's going absolutely nowhere, how about after I get the last five Locator Cards?"

"Fine, but I don't forget easily, so don't think you'll be getting out of this," she replied, walking after me. Then she walked faster and went ahead of me.

"Where do you think you're going?" I questioned.

"I'm getting your information for ya! Be back in a second, this is how **I** get information." Sighing, I stayed where I was and decided to see what she was going to do. With her, you never know. The female bluenette walked up to a group of three guys, and she starting…flirting with them. For a reason that I couldn't place, an unfamiliar feeling bubbled up inside me.

_Could this be jealousy? Why would I be jealous about what she does? I don't care at all about anything she does._

"You flirted with a group of hormone-driven teenage boys to get information?" I said.

"Why, of course! I have good looks, why shouldn't I use them? By the way, there's a duelist with a bunch of Locator Cards in the graveyard; let's get going." She turned her back to me and continued to where the graveyard must be.

_This is the first time I've seen her upset with anyone. How strange, she'll still talk, but she doesn't say anything that's unnecessary. And she…why am I noticing this…?_

"Coming…" I muttered, following after the neutral spy.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Okay the translations are as follows:

_Bonjour! Je m'appelle Monique LeBlanc! =_ Hello! My name is Monique LeBlanc.

_Mon amis = _My friends

_S'il vous pla_ît Monsieur Bakura...? =__ Please Mister Bakura...?

_Mon amour = _My love

_Non, mon amour = _No, my love

_Mademoiselle = _Miss

**Marik:** Why French?

**AGKamon:** My school has mandatory French classes, I wanted to use my knowledge of French for something! I don't exactly plan on going to France, or Canada.

**Bakura:** Whatever. *grumbles* Thanks katz341 for continuing to review...

**Kayla:** Okay, read and review! See ya next chapter! *waves*


	5. Caring

**AGKamon:** Hey readers! I just want to personally thank katz341 for updating...again. And I accept the cookies you have waiting for me, I like chocolate chip... *begins imagining delicious cookies*

**Kayla:** Um...ew. Bakura! She's drooling, come help me! *attempts to find paper towels*

**Bakura:** Heck no. I'd rather say the disclaimer...AGKamon doesn't own Marik, me, or anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! But she does own that spaz over there. *points to Kayla, who's running around frantically still searching for paper towels*

**Marik:** *nudges Bakura with his elbow* Oh come on Bakura, we all know you like that spaz. This chapter even has you two bonding...kind of. There's more French in this chapter, so the translations are at the end again! Also, whoever finds the very slight Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged references in this chapter gets...a hug from either me or Bakura!

**Bakura:** I'm not hugging anyone! *suddenly thinks of Yami Marik's abridged counterpart* The authoress doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! the Abridged Series either, Little Kuriboh does.

* * *

><p><span>At The Graveyard:<span>

"Who are you tryin' to fool with disguises like that? …At least you didn't run at us, that would've been ridiculous," Kayla scolded, yanking the pathetic mask off one the three 'men' who were probably trying to scare the Locator Cards out of us.

"Which one of you is the duelist?" I asked as the other two removed the masks. I noticed the shortest one was wearing a Duel Disk.

"I am."

"Hm, I challenge you to a duel. Winner takes all."

"Why would I agree to that?"

"I have one Locator Card, you have five. Whoever wins goes to the finals."

"Good point. I'll agree to your terms. Duel!" the short person whose head reminded me of a skull replied.

"I'll go first; I summon Headless Knight in attack, and then I'll set one card face-down. Your move," I said.

"That's it? I summon The Snake Hair in attack mode. Now Snake Hair, attack his Headless Knight! …I end my turn."

"Very well. First I activate my face-down card, Shallow Grave, allowing both of us to summon one monster from our graveyard to our fields in defense mode; I'll be re-summoning Headless Knight, but since there are no monsters in your graveyard - there are no monsters for you to summon. Now I sacrifice my Headless Knight to summon Earl of Demise in attack mode." I suddenly smirked as the field and everything around us became shrouded in shadows.

"Wh-what's with all the dark, creepy shadows?" my opponent asked.

"I have taken our duel to the Shadow Realm. The loser now loses more than their Locator Cards; they'll be trapped here in the Shadow Realm for the rest of eternity. Now Earl of Demise, destroy his monster! …I think I'll end my turn there."

**-Bakura: 3950 Life Points - Bonz/Opponent Guy: 3500 Life Points-**

"Fine. I summon my Dragon Zombie in attack mode. Next I'll pay 800 life points to activate the Spell Card Magic Burial so I can re-summon Snake Hair. Now I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Dragon Zombie and Snake Hair together to summon the Great Mammoth of Goldfine! Since I can't attack this turn, I'll just set a card face-down."

"I draw."

"Not so fast, I activate my face-down, Skull Invitation! Now, whenever a card is sent to the graveyard, that card's owner loses 300 life points per card." I shrugged; a petty spell like that wasn't going to stop my strategy.

"I activate Spiritualistic Medium; I can now discard my entire hand so my monster will gain 500 attack points for every card. With four cards sent to the graveyard, my Earl of Demise gains 2000 attack points, raising its attack to 4000."

"You still take 1200 points of damage due to Skull Invitation!"

"That's fine. Earl of Demise is still going to destroy your Great Mammoth of Goldfine. And just as you pointed out for me, because your monster was sent to the graveyard, you take another 300 points of damage."

**-Bakura: 2750 Life Points - Bonz/Opponent Guy: 600 Life Points-**

"Hm, it's my turn then, and I activate Nightmare's Steelcage! Now every monster on the field can't attack for two of my turns. I'll also set one card face-down to end my turn."

"I activate the Spell Card Ectoplasmer, now if I sacrifice one of my monsters, you take damage equal to half its original attack points. So I sacrifice the Earl of Demise; his original attack was 2000, and half of that is 1000. You take 1000 points of damage, making me the winner. …Have a good time in the Shadow Realm!

**-Bakura: 2750 Life Points - Bonz/Opponent Guy: 0 Life Points - Bakura wins-**

Kayla suddenly moved, took the five Locator Cards, and walked out of the graveyard as the shadows continued to make a feast of my former opponent and his friends. My eyes narrowed at her.

_What is her problem? _I walked up behind her and grabbed her arm to stop her from going anything further.

"Hm? Oh, you must want the cards, right? Here, tell Marik I'm not gonna follow you around anymore. I've obviously overstayed my welcome…" she said, handing me the five Locator Cards. I took them with the hand that didn't have a grip on her and pocketed the cards.

"What makes you think that?" I growled.

"It's obvious, isn't it? I care about your well-being **once**, and you get all super-defensive-with-an-attitude on me; you must be getting a little tired of me following you around." I was silent while I thought of a response; my voice seemed quieter than usual when I spoke, I noticed.

"I haven't had anyone care about me in a very long time; perhaps I simply need to get used to it again. Despite what you may think, I seem to care about you for a reason I don't understand yet."

"How do I know that's not a lie?"

"When you pulled me out of the hospital by the arm; I would've sent a normal mortal to the Shadow Realm for that, but for some reason, I can't do that to you. If I really didn't care, I would've left you behind somewhere already, or sent you to the Shadow Realm. Come on, come with me to the finals. Besides, it'd be a little suspicious to Marik if I didn't arrive with you." She laughed lightly.

"Yea…I guess he'd probably think you sent me where you sent those 'zombies'. Sure, I'll come with you. On one condition."

_She forgives quickly._

"What would that be?"

"Next time I care about you, don't go all Prima-Donna on me. I'm off in the head, but I care about people that I consider my friends. Even though you and Marik probably think I'm an accomplice, at best, you two are the closest things I've had to friends since I ran away. …But don't let that go to your head or anything."

_She thinks I'm her friend? Well that's new…_

"Fine. Now we better get to the finals before it starts without us."

"_Je reconnais, mon ami._ Let's get going."

"Why do you even know French?"

"It was a mandatory class in school when I was younger. I have a good memory, but I never thought French would come in handy one day. Oh wait a sec! I need to braid my hair and put my contacts in. I need to look like Monique when we get to the finals." She dug through the bag attached to her belt and pulled out a few elastic bands; quickly braiding the longer strands of her hair before pulling out a small mirror and what was probably her contacts' case.

"Bakura, hold this for me, will ya?" she asked, holding the mirror out to me. I held the mirror for her while she placed the green contacts in her eyes, turning her midnight-blue eyes to emerald-green again.

"Now can we get going?" I questioned. She nodded, taking the mirror back and putting it away.

"Where's the finals being held at?" she inquired. Suddenly realizing the predicament, I set the Locator Cards up on my Duel Disk so they'd display the map.

"It looks like…there," I answered, pointing to the marked area on the map. I remarked, "I've never been to that part of town before."

"Oh! I have, that's near where my old apartment used to be; let's go!" she exclaimed, grabbing my good arm and pulling me behind her.

_She's lucky I care at all about her…_

* * *

><p><span>At The Finals Stadium:<span>

I'd taken to 'limping' alongside Kayla, or, 'Monique' as she'll be known for a while. The Pharaoh and his pathetic group of friends still needed to believe I was my weaker half, and that I was still injured.

"Bakura! You should get back to the hospital!" Joey cried.

"I already told him that _Monsieur_, but he insisted that he'd recovered enough to leave," 'Monique' replied.

"They let you out?" the Pharaoh's weaker half, Yugi I believe his name was, questioned.

"I'm fine, really," I protested, the British accent infiltrating my voice.

"You need to get back to that hospital," Tristan, another one of the Pharaoh's friends, insisted.

"Why are you wearing a Duel Disk?" Yugi asked.

"How else would he have won six Locator Cards?" 'Monique' retorted. I held up the six cards as proof.

"When did you even join the tournament?" Joey inquired.

"Join? How about, how did you make it to the finals?" Tristan added.

"This is gettin weird…" Joey noted. I decided to direct their attention somewhere; these questions were getting annoying.

"Hey look, it's the seventh duelist." They all turned their attention toward the tall, tanned man in a purple cloak who was walking into the stadium.

_He must be the decoy Marik, as the real Marik is still playing his part as Namu._

"Alright, Attention duelists, since seven out of eight of you are here, we have an announcement. Although your Locator Cards led you here, this isn't where you'll be dueling; the actual arena should be arriving any second now," one of Seto Kaiba's suits explained. Just as some duelists began to question what the man meant by the arena 'arriving', a large blimp came into our sights.

"Seto Kaiba certainly enjoys flaunting his money, doesn't he?" 'Monique' remarked quietly.

"He's rich and has a huge ego, of course he does," I replied.

"We'll depart when the eighth finalist arrives," the suit said as we boarded. Luckily, no one questioned me when I pulled 'Monique' onboard with me, and yet, four of the Pharaoh's friends were held back shortly because they didn't possess I.D. cards like I and the other finalists did. As it turns out, the room I would be staying for the duration of the tournament was only a few doors down from 'Monique's' and 'Namu's'. I suspected she'd broken into the room, but that wasn't my problem.

"Attention duelists, the finals are about to begin. Mr. Kaiba requests that all duelists report to the main hall," a suit's announcement suddenly rang through my room. I sighed, then walked out of the automatic door, feeling someone run into me in process. I had a feeling that I knew who it was, but I looked toward them anyway.

"Sorry Bakura! But…shall we, _mon amour_?" There was the unmistakable voice of 'Monique'. Quickly changing my demeanor, I slung my good arm around her shoulders and smiled, walking with her toward the main hall. I could've sworn I saw a hint of pink dust over her cheeks at the sudden contact.

"We shall."

* * *

><p><span>In The Main Hall:<span>

Suddenly, I felt another person run into my back.

"Oh, sorry!" Joey apologized, holding a plate of food.

"That's fine; it seems like everyone's on edge," I replied.

"Must be pre-final jitters. I see you brought…Mon-Q…?" he said. We both laughed slightly at the horrible resemblance between the names.

"It's actually Monique, but if that's a bit hard to remember, Mona's fine too." She smiled at him.

"Oh really? Sorry 'bout that, Mona. Well, I guess I'll see the both of you later." He then went off, somewhere.

"Monique! Come over here, I want to introduce you to someone!" I happened to recognize that voice as Téa.

"Go on, I know the story that I tell," I insisted. She nodded, stood there for a moment before bringing her lips to my cheek and rushing off. For the first time in my life, I truly blushed.

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

"Hm? Oh yes, _Mademoiselle_, what is it?" I asked Téa, not mentioning her name because she actually hadn't told me her name yet.

"I just thought since you're dating Bakura, we should all get to know you a little better. My name's Téa Gardner by the way," she replied, "this is Joey's sister, Serenity." She gestured to the shorter, red-haired girl behind her.

"I'm Monique LeBlanc, as you already know and-" I started, but the lights suddenly dimmed. Everyone turned their attention to the front of the room, and I shrugged while strolling back toward Bakura.

_I know we're acting as a couple, but why did I feel the need to kiss him on the cheek? It's not like me. _A machine shaped like a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon rose out of the floor; I suspected that was going to choose who was going to duel.

"Duelists, may I have your attention please? The first two duelists will be chosen at random by lottery. All the finalists have been given a number between one and eight, the selector will now choose the first two numbers. Does everyone remember their number? …The first duelist is…number 6!"

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> *eating a random piece of cake to satisfy craving* French actually is a mandatory class at my school, I'm glad I could use it for something. Anyway, the translations are as follows:

_Je reconnais, mon ami_ - I agree, my friend

_Monsieur _- sir or Mr.

_mon amour _- My love

_Mademoiselle _- Miss

**Kayla:** If only the Bakura in the fanfiction knew I was constantly calling him 'my love' in French, I'd love to see his reaction.

**AGKamon:** Also, did you see the small Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged references? And...there's another I wish to thank: sorecess of the nile, I thank you for putting this story on your favorites list.

**Bakura:** I can't believe you made me blush...I don't blush...

**AGKamon:** Ah well, it's not like you can do anything about it. It's already written and published...and...think fast! *throws cake at Bakura*

**Bakura:** *thinks fast and ducks* Seriously?

**Marik:** *hit by flying cake* Wh-what the heck?

**Kayla:** Uh...read and review, hopefully we'll have this sorted out by the chapter! *goes off to prevent an upcoming argument*


	6. Lonely

**AGKamon:** Sorry about the delay, but first I bought a drawing tablet (once I get the hang of it, I'll try to get a deviantart - you guys will know when that happens), then I got writer's block, and then school started. So I haven't had much time...and since the first day of school, I've had homework. What the heck?

**Bakura:** Get over it and start the chapter, I'm sure the readers are waiting.

**Marik:** The Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged references in the last chapter were the obvious 'Attention duelists', and Kayla's words to the zombies 'at least you didn't run at us, that would've been ridiculous' was a reference to the abridged episode that had Bakura's duel with Bonz where he said something similar.

**Kayla:** Yay for those of you who caught those references!

**AGKamon:** Okay, I fear that Bakura is extremely out of character in this chapter, but it's because he finally starting to show he cares. Also, to those of you who reviewed, I'll be replying to them at the end of the chapter. Disclaimer someone.

**Kayla:** My turn! AG doesn't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! But she does own me! *smiles and points to herself* Start the chapter!

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I exchanged a glance with 'Monique' - 6 was my number.

"Me? I get to duel first?" I said innocently, then laughed lightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"You should be in bed, resting!" were among the remarks I got.

"I'm fine, being first just surprised me a bit. That's all." I despised acting like this kid; he was way too innocent for his own good. It was sickening, but it had to be done.

"…Bakura's first opponent will be…duelist number 3: Yugi Moto!" After the man explained the rules and such; he stated that the Pharaoh and I should follow him to the duel arena. I then noticed a soft crackling behind my ear.

"Good luck against the Pharaoh…" her whispered voice entered my ears.

_I don't need luck, my dear, but I guess that's her caring about my well-being again. I still don't understand why she should care, but it's her choice. _After riding the elevator up, the Pharaoh and I found ourselves on the top of the blimp, on a dueling arena. Soon, all the Pharaoh's friends, 'Monique', and 'Namu' had joined us to observe the duel.

"Are you ready to lose everything?" I taunted, my voice beginning to fade away from my other side's voice and back to my own.

"Why don't you tell us who you really are?" the Pharaoh countered. I smirked as my hair raised itself into the less tame style I liked it in, but I didn't answer.

"Alright, have it your way then, but I think I already know the answer." The Millennium Ring glowed and appeared around my neck as well.

"The Spirit of the Millennium Ring!"

"Now that the introductions are over with, why don't we start this duel?" Ah yes, it felt so much better to be acting like myself again.

"Why did you enter the Battle City finals? Does it involve the Millennium Items?" the Pharaoh questioned.

"Perhaps," I answered simply, taunting the spirit that was just as old as me.

_He knows I'm seeking the Millennium Items, but he doesn't know how I'm going to obtain them. First I'll win the Pharaoh's God Card and hand it over to Marik, earning the Millennium Rod in exchange. The Millennium Puzzle will be easy to obtain afterwards._

"Maybe there's something else I'm aiming for first," I said, "but enough about me. Shall we start the duel?" The Pharaoh stayed silent, glaring at me briefly before nodding.

"Then I'll go first…" I said, drawing a card.

* * *

><p><span>After the Duel:<span>

Kayla's P.O.V.

"Bakura…I sometimes worry that you're an idiot…going along with one of Marik's plans, how dumb can you act?" I muttered, eyeing his facial features for signs of life. Of course, I knew he was alive, but he was laying so still that I couldn't help but worry.

_He said earlier that he cares for me, but he's not sure about the reason. I wonder why he cares…_

"Monique, was it?" a voice I recognized as the Pharaoh 's pierced and shattered my thoughts. I turned my head to look over my shoulder, still looking perfectly innocent.

"Oh? What is it, _Monsieur_ Yugi?" I asked.

"I was wondering if he's woken up yet…"

"…Not yet. He seems so still, it worries me to no end. _Il regarde…morte. Je sais qu'il n'est pas, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de penser de cette façon._ Oh! I guess I forgot you don't speak French. Did you need anything else _Monsieur?_" I said. I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.

"…Did you know about the Spirit in the Millennium Ring?" he questioned. I hesitated, should I say yes?

"Mhm. I met him once, and _mon amour_ explained it to me. The Spirit doesn't seem to mind me; he's never hurt me or anything. I believe that I'm the closest thing he has to a friend in this world. I don't think he is all _mauvaise_, you have to have a good reason for holding a grudge for 5000 years, correct? Something tragic must've happened to change his path in life. What do you think _Monsieur?_" I explained. In truth, that's what I thought about Bakura. He was trapped in the Ring for 5000 years, and he still wants to destroy the Pharaoh. There must be a good reason for that amount of hate, but it's probably hidden in his memories somewhere. He probably didn't have many friends back in Egypt either; he cares about me for some reason, friendship has to be related to it somehow. Although, he'd never admit it.

"I never thought about it that way, but even so, be careful around him. See you around." I then heard the footsteps leaving the room, and I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been keeping.

_Keeping up an alias is so nerve-wracking…_ I sighed and decided to retreat back to my room for the night.

"G'night Bakura…" I said quietly before stepping out the automatic doors. I was deep in thought while I strolled into my room.

_Why does he care about me? A better question: why do I care about him?_ Those were my last thoughts before I gave in to the clutches of sleep.

* * *

><p><span>The Next Morning:<span>

"Attention duelists! The next pair of duelists will be chosen in one hour, please report to the main lobby by that time," the announcement boomed through the hallways of the blimp, entering my ears and startling me awake.

"Kaiba…I'm going to kill that suit of yours one of these days…" I muttered darkly, figuring I might as well get up because I'd probably be woken up sooner or later anyway. I was just finishing up with my green contacts when I heard a knock.

"Who is it?" I shouted. There was a pause.

"…Namu." I chuckled at his reluctance to use the name.

"Yes? What did you need, _Monsieur_ Namu?" I asked cheerfully as I opened the door for the Egyptian. However, my mood changed as soon as the door closed, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What's with the attitude? Upset that your 'boyfriend's' bed-ridden?" he taunted, grinning.

"Shut up! You may not think of me as anything more than an accomplice, but I happen to list the two of you as the only two friends I've had since I ran away from home. So yeah, I'm actually concerned for Bakura's health because I care about his well-being, but I care a bit less about yours now because it was your stupid plan that got him in this mess." I kept my voice even so no attention would be attracted to the room if anyone walked by. Marik chuckled.

"Who's fault is that? We never said we wanted friends; I don't want friends, and Bakura couldn't care-" I stopped him before he could say another word, by slapping him. The whole room went silent before I spoke.

"Don't you dare talk for Bakura; you have no idea what he thinks. When I was there when he woke up after he was stabbed, I told him that I was there because I cared about his well-being. Admittedly, he acted a bit weird about at first, but he told me that he hasn't had anyone care about him in a really long time. That he needed time to get used to the idea. When I tried to leave our little group after Bakura won the Locator Cards at the graveyard, he stopped me. He proved to me that, even though he's not sure why, he cares about my well-being as well. He hasn't admitted anything close to the word friendship, but don't talk for someone you know nothing about." Marik raised his hand and briefly touched his cheek, staring at me in disbelief while he listened.

"You…slapped me…"

"That I did, and I'd do it again."

"…I guess I can't talk for Bakura's sake. …Were you going to check on him?"

"Perhaps. Don't you have a drawing to attend?"

"As a matter a fact, I do. I'll leave you to do as you wish."

"Yeah, you better," I retorted, glaring after the blonde as he left. I took a deep, calming breath and decided to continue to Bakura's room.

"I shouldn't have expected anything…" I sighed, seeing that he wasn't awake yet. He was still as unmoving as ever. Even so, I wasn't in the mood for watching a duel, so I sat in the chair I had set next to his bed earlier. Then, I, once again, gave into the dark hands of slumber.

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

"…no…"

_What was that? It sounded like a voice, wait, why is everything so dark? …Ah yes, my duel with the Pharaoh must've caused me to fall unconscious. But…who else is here? _I forced my eyes open, blinking multiple times because the world seemed exceedingly bright at first.

"Don't…wanna…alone…anymore…" Those mumbled words entered my ears, and I sat up slightly, looking to my side. There she was, a head of midnight-blue hair resting next to my arm. I looked closer, there was a pained expression on her face, as if she were reliving something tragic. Hesitantly, I shook her shoulder. She shot up like she'd been struck by lightening, eyes wide. Quickly, my hand took itself from her arm.

"Kayla? Are you alright?" I asked. She turned to me, still with a fearful expression.

"B-Bakura?" I've never heard her stutter like that; what had she been dreaming about? In an attempt to comfort her, I put my hand on her shoulder again. At once, she flew into my arms, shaking, with her chin on my shoulder and her hands grasping my shirt.

"I…don't wanna…be alone…" I heard her mutter under her breath. My shirt wasn't wet, so she wasn't crying, apparently, she was scared. Now, back in ancient Egypt, I'd been with quite a lot of woman, but I'd never known them on an emotional level. It'd been short relationships, with little to no commitment involved, at least on my part, but this girl was different. Unlike anyone I've ever known, I actually cared about her. However, this was not my forté. So I, not being used to this sort of situation, awkwardly lay my hand on her back and moved it up and down slightly. She was still clinging to me, but the shaking wasn't as severe, so I guess it worked.

"What happened?" I asked quietly, leaning the side of my head against hers so I only had to whisper in her ear.

"I-I had a dream…about when I was younger…"

"I thought you said your childhood was normal until you ran off."

"I lied. I was a lonely child. …It scares me…being alone…"

"I have no experience in comforting people, but if you wish to talk about it, I'll listen." Might as well not lie to the girl, right? I felt her nod as she took in a shaky breath of air.

"M-my parents were always working. They loved me, but they were so busy. Always away on business trips or at the office. My mom was allergic to most animals, so I couldn't have a pet either. And I guess the kids at school knew I was a bit off in the head before anyone else did because everyone would stay as far away from me as possible. Always sitting alone. Always doing schoolwork alone. Always alone. Maybe that's why I started spying on people, so I could get close to people without them trying to get away…I knew that when I was diagnosed with my problems, my parents would gladly ship my off so they wouldn't have to worry about me at home. But, I knew they wouldn't visit…I was afraid of being even more alone. I figured being alone on the road where I'm free is better than being locked up and still alone. Bakura…?" Her grip on my shirt tightened.

"Yes?"

"Am I still alone in the world?" Her voice sounded so small, so vulnerable. In all my years of living, I've never heard anyone sound so…broken and desperate. I knew that if I answered her in the wrong way, she could potentially break down so much that no one could put her together again. A bit like that stupid nursery rhyme I sometimes heard small children singing in town; I believe it was about someone falling off a wall…or something like that.

"No, not at all. I told you, I care about you for some reason. As long as I'm around, you're not alone," I replied.

"…Thank you."

"Did anything happen while I was unconscious?"

"Hm…no, but I slapped Marik this morning." I chuckled.

"I'll have to ask you about that later." Suddenly, I sensed a dark presence entering the room. My arms brought themselves around her waist and held onto her.

"Uh…w-what are you d-doing?"

"There's someone in here, someone dark. Just stay there." I felt her nod again.

"Who's there?" I asked warily into the darkened room. A sinister chuckle filling the air was my response. I was about to speak again when another voice stalled me.

"I'm disappointed that you don't recognize me…" A familiar tanned Egyptian stepped out of the shadows, his entire being gave off an air of darkness, evil, and superiority. Only, something was very different about him.

"I always suspected Marik was crazier than he thought he was," I said. Kayla turned her head to look at what I was talking about, and I felt a shudder course through her.

"That's not Marik. I saw him this morning, and then he went off to the drawing for the next duel," she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"Very wise, my dear. I am the true Marik, the half that was locked away in his mind. Now that Odion is unconscious, I have been freed." Instinctively, I let my grip on Kayla tighten slightly at him calling her 'dear'.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"I figured I should pay my weaker half's former allies a visit. Nothing more, but I should be going. Perhaps we will meet again, farewell." That 'Marik' wasn't human, I noted as he faded back into the shadows and vanished from the room completely. Even after he left, I continued to hold the girl. He'd been eying her, I could tell.

"Bakura…? He's gone, right?"

"For now, but I don't trust him to leave you alone. We're heading to your room now; I want you to gather all your things. You're staying in here with me from now on. I'm not taking no for an answer; let's go." I let go of her and stood up after she did.

"He creeps me out; I agree with you completely. Let's just hurry up," she agreed, quickly seizing my wrist and pulling me behind her.

"How much stuff did you bring with you?" I questioned.

"Not much. A few changes of clothes, some of my spy equipment. It shouldn't take long to gather everything, especially since I pretty much kept everything in my bag." I didn't remember her having a bag, but she must have one, right? She pulled me through the door with her. The only thing in the room that seemed to be hers was a suitcase in the corner.

"Good. Grab it and go." Not daring to let go of my wrist, she snatched the suitcase and hurried the both of us back to my room. I considering asking about her strange behavior, but after her potential breakdown earlier, I let it go. After convincing her to relax, she fell asleep. However, I stayed awake, wondering.

_That new side of Marik is much darker than the normal side. Something has to be done about him, to keep not only me safe, but her as well. …Well, I guess that leaves me as the only one willing to take action right away because the Pharaoh will obviously wait until he's actually chosen to duel Marik. _I fell asleep while formulating my plan to keep us safe.

* * *

><p><strong>Kayla:<strong> These are the French translations:

_Monsieur _- sir or Mr.

_Il regarde…morte. Je sais qu'il n'est pas, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de penser de cette façon. - _He looks...dead. I know he is not, but I cannot help but think that way.

_Mon amour_ - my love

_Mauvaise_ - bad

**AGKamon:** And now I'll respond to all the review I've gotten:

**_katz341_** - I thank you for the yummy cookies, they satisfied my cravings. I give you props for hugging Bakura anyway as well. Thanks for reviewing again!

**_KittyFluffyninja_**_ -_ I'm glad you agree with my personal quote, and it makes sense - if someone was completely sane, they'd be considered insane. And...I haven't actually figured out myself how Kayla got labeled as a pyromaniac, a kleptomaniac, and having an explosion obsession. I've been trying to do that, I'll hopefully establish that sometime soon. I haven't actually been labeled as insane by anyone yet (although, some kids at school probably think it), the quote just popped into my mind one day. I'm glad you love **Neutral** so far! :)

**_KittyFluffyninja (2)_**_ - _I'm glad you found that funny; I try to add humor into my stories, and it happens randomly. I think it's great that you actually think this is good enough to quote in your review, I've never had that happen before. Even if you think there was no point to your review, I'm just glad to get one! My day brightens when I get reviews! And both I and Bakura agree, he does just win. Although he's currently asking me if we're talking about him winning the Millennium Items...thanks for reviewing anyway, twice!

**_sorecess of the nile_**_ - _Yes, I enjoy adding humor to my stories, especially the author's notes because they're not related to the story and I can do anything! And I always thank the readers who favorite/review/put my story on their alert list; I'm glad people actually read my stuff! So...uh, thanks for reviewing! :)

Thanks again to all of you! I think I'll start replying to reviews like this more often... Bakura, care to sign us out?

**Bakura:** I'd rather not.

**Marik:** *glares at Bakura* I'll do it. Thanks for reading, go ahead and review!

**AGKamon:** *eyes sparkle* Does this mean you forgive me for hitting you with cake last chapter, Marik?

**Marik:** *shifts glare to AG* No, in fact...PAYBACK! *throws cake at AG*

**AGKamon:** *yelps as she's hit* Nice one Marik...now we're even...

**Kayla:** *wipes some icing off AG's face with her finger* Hm... *licks icing on her finger* Oh! It's vanilla, my favorite! Marik, did you make this? *he nods* Can you make me some?

**Marik:** *shrugs while walking toward the kitchen* Why not? Remember to review readers! *waves*


	7. A Goddess

**AGKamon:** Welcome back my friends! This is a short, sweet, but kinda important chapter. Also, I have important news!

**Marik:** Really? *looks interested*

**AGKamon:** I got a Deviant-Art account and posted a picture of Kayla on it today! *cheers* The link is on my profile, so go take a look before or after you read the chapter. Someone do the disclaimer.

**Kayla:** I will, to thank you for drawing me! AGKamon doesn't own Marik, Bakura, or anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! However, she does own me!

**Bakura:** Alright, start the chapter now. You still need to figure what to write for your review replies, AG.

**AGKamon:** Er...right. *runs to computer and starts typing rapidly*

* * *

><p><span>The Next Morning:<span>

Kayla's P.O.V.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew this wasn't my room. I sat up and glanced around, wondering what the heck happened when it all came flooding back to me. I was in Bakura's room because he didn't trust Marik's darker side to leave me alone. I looked across the room, spotting the still-sleeping white-haired spirit.

_What's so special about me? Why does he care about me of all people? _Those thoughts kept bothering me, why did he care? I was a girl who ran away from home at age eleven to prevent my parents from sending me to the loony bin. Why would anyone care what happened to me?

"Should I be concerned that you'll be having weird bouts of behavior on random occasions?" I blinked a few times.

"Huh?"

"You looked completely out of it, so I asked if you were alright. You didn't answer, so I asked if you'll be acting strange like this very often," Bakura clarified.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking." I swiftly tugged on my gloves.

"Are you going to watch the next duels?"

"No. That weird new Marik's out there; I don't wanna leave the room."

"Good. …Can I ask you a question?" He sounded nervous. What does he have to nervous about?

"Depends. How personal is the question?"

"It's not that personal, I think, but why are you always wearing gloves? I understand that when you're committing your usual crimes; they're useful for preventing yourself from leaving fingerprints, but you're wearing them now, when there's no reason to." I laughed slightly.

"I have a scar on my right hand, and I don't like the look of it; wearing one glove would look silly, don't ya think?" I replied.

"I guess…" he muttered.

"Are you curious, Bakura?" I asked, a sing-song tone infiltrating my voice.

"Are you willing to let me see?"

"It's no problem, really. It's a burn scar, nothing special," I remarked, pulling off my right glove. Instantly, he stiffened.

"How did you get this?" he asked quietly. Pretty much the entirety of my right hand (both the palm and the top) was covered in a burn scar. He brought his fingertips across the scarred skin with a curious gleam in his eyes, as though he'd never seen such a burn before. I would've expected he'd seen something like this before.

"After I ran off when I was eleven, I discovered that the docs were right about my mental issues. I still didn't wanna go home, so I just gave into my urges. Of course, my pyromania caused me to set fires. I got too close to the flames the first time I set something on fire, and I got this. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or anything, I just don't like the way it looks against my skin; it seems out of place, and keeping it covered keeps people from asking questions," I explained.

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I never would've expected her to be hiding such a large scar under a simple piece of fabric. I dragged my fingertips gently across the top of her hand; I would've expected the scarred tissue to be rough, but it wasn't She really was an interesting girl, who has had a hard life so far; I'm glad I decided to care about her. After a second, I released her hand and she wandered off into the bathroom. I couldn't help but eye her when her back was turned. If I was still in Egypt, I would've thought she was a goddess in disguise, or was related to one. Everything seemed to be perfect about her looks, the scar made her look more attractive in my opinion. Despite her problems, she acted strangely happy and had a bright outlook on life most of the time. But her episode yesterday...that was such an opposite from her usual attitude.

_She really must be terrified of being alone. If that's so, then I definitely have to defeat Marik's dark side and avoid being sent to the Shadow Realm. She's a resourceful and smart girl, but I have no idea what she'll do when she's scared._ I ran the outcomes through my head; there were so many possibilities of what could happen. However, if I wanted to protect her, I needed to think through them all. Every last one of them.

* * *

><p><span>That Night:<span>

Looking to my side, I saw her peaceful sleeping face facing me. I felt my expression soften; she looked-

"Hey Bakura!" I shot up and almost shouted something but stopped myself so I didn't wake her. That was…Marik's voice, but it was the light-hearted Marik. The one I knew before. I glanced around, soon catching the translucent form of the Egyptian in my eyes.

**'What are you doing here?'** I mouthed. The fact that she was still sleeping gave me the information that she wouldn't be able to see or hear him if she woke up.

"We need to defeat my dark side! Come on, I've got a plan."

**'Last time you had a plan, I was stuck in this bed, unconscious.'**

"That's not important! I'll be able to help you defeat him!"

**'How do you know I wish to defeat him?'**

"...You just told me. I'll give you my Millennium Rod if you help!"

**'You already promised me that…'** Then again, having an ally with me when I go after the darker Marik could work to my advantage.

"Well, uh, I guess…" the partially-clear Egyptian started before I carefully set my feet on the floor, motioning for him to follow me as I snuck out the automatic doors. He stopped babbling and nodded.

"What's your plan?" I asked quietly once the doors had closed behind me.

"We duel my dark side, defeat him, and I get my body back!"

"That's it…?" I raised an eyebrow. Someone please remind me why I ever agreed to work with this kid.

"Yes! It's brilliant, isn't it?" I bit my lip and turned toward the door I'd just walked through, running all my plans and Marik's through my mind as quickly as I could.

_All the plans I've come up with will take much more time, but Marik's plans have always failed. Do I want to get rid of Dark Marik now, with the high risk of it failing and me leaving Kayla all alone, or do I want to use one of my longer-term plans that are more reliable but still have the risk of failure?_ Suddenly, I felt something course through my veins.

"Give me a second to think it over," I said before quickly retreating to my room. I cast a glance at her; she was shaking severely, her lips forming words that had yet to be spoken. My eyes narrowed, was she having another episode? I knelt by the side of her bed and shook her awake, her entire body jolted when her eyes opened.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently. Her eyes were watery with what looked like tears that hadn't spilled yet: strike one.

"O-of course. Wh-why wouldn't I be?" Her voice was shaky: strike two. She was still shaking: strike three. She'd been having another nightmare, probably about being alone.

"I can tell you had another nightmare, why are you denying it?" I questioned. She sat up slowly and tried to look at anything but me.

"I-I felt like a burden when you had to comfort me last night. I survived on my own for six years and didn't need anyone to hold me like you did last night. Now I feel like I need you to talk to you after my dreams turn into nightmares, and I don't know why."

"You're not a burden, not at all. You're tired of being lonely and having to comfort yourself, am I right?" She nodded, and I kept talking, "I already told you, since I'm around, you're not alone anymore. Don't delude yourself into thinking you'll be fine on your own, everyone needs someone eventually. Your time to need someone by your side is now." I'd taken her right hand in one of mine and was stroking along her knuckles and the top of her hand with my thumb. The scar on that hand fascinated me for some reason.

"What about you?" I looked up into her dark-blue eyes at hearing her question.

"What do you mean?"

"When will you need somebody?" Suddenly everything clicked together and made sense in my head. The reason why I cared about her, why I felt protective over her safety, why I even tried to comfort her last night. I needed this girl to be around me, but I didn't tell her that. I wanted Dark Marik out of the way before I said anything to her.

"…I don't know, I honestly don't have any idea. I never felt the urge to need another person in my life back in Egypt; it's been 5000 years since then and I still don't feel it. Maybe I never will." I stood up and sat on the bed next to her. She lay her head on my shoulder, maneuvering herself so she was comfortable, then gazing up at me. To me, she still looked like she was part-goddess.

She had walls made of steel built around her heart that was as fragile as glass. Her eyes held the knowledge of someone who's seen too much, despite their young age. Her left hand was calloused from work, stress, and use, her right was burned with her obsession. The slight smile playing across her lips caused my heart to beat a little faster. It was relaxed, showing that she only felt this at ease when she was with me because only time she truly smiled like that was when we were together. I would never find another person anything like her again. That's what brought me to my decision; I had to get rid of Dark Marik as soon as possible.

"You need to go back to sleep," I said.

"…Fine…" she sighed, yawning soon afterward. I retreated to my bed, pretending to return to sleep as she fell back into a dreamland that I hoped would be free of loneliness. As soon as I heard her breathing even out and relax, I rushed out the doors again.

"What took you so long?" Marik exclaimed.

"She had a nightmare." There was a pause of silence.

"…So she was telling the truth when she said you cared about her…" I could've asked why she told him that, but I disregarded it for now.

"I'll go along with your plan, we go tonight. Understand?"

"Completely. Let's go get my body back!"

"I couldn't care less about your body, honestly," I growled at him.

"Then why are you doing this, Bakura?" he asked. I coughed nervously, quickly walking ahead of him.

"…Special…circumstances. Now where's that darker half of yours?"

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> How'd ya like it? Sweet, huh? Now to reply to my reviewers...

**_Adriatic Rose - _**I'm glad you liked the opening chapter and my OC. Also, I feel flattered that you are now my obedient friend.

**_Adriatic Rose (2) _**- Bakura's kinda always in a bad mood...I think...

**_Adriatic Rose (3) _**- I am also happy you gave Neutral a chance because you were my tenth reviewer! Technically, your last review was the tenth, but I decided to congratulate you now! *throws confetti* Yay! Also, thanks for reviewing, adding this story to your story alert list, and your favorite story list.

**_katz341 _**- I am starting to anticipate your reviews whenever I update now...that's a good thing. Thanks for congratulating me on my tablet, take a look at the picture I drew of Kayla - tell me if it looks good for the first I've posted that I drew with my tablet. When KittyFluffyninja mentioned a friend who had already read this...I suspected it was you. Yes, you are awesome because Exercise is awesome and you're the reader who's reviewed the most. Bakura's just too stubborn to compliment anyone...besides Kayla. I enjoyed the cookies, and my whole day brightened when you said 'AGKamon is too awesome for poisoning!' ...None of my readers have ever called me awesome. Nah, you're probably just having writer's block or somethin', I wouldn't poison anyone for that. Actually, I wouldn't poison anyone at all... Thanks for reviewing again!

Also, thanks to KittyFluffyninja for putting Neutral on her story alert list; you too Alice's Sister for putting this in your favorites and listing me under your favorite authors!

**Marik:** I'll sign us out, AG if you don't mind.

**AGKamon:** I'd appreciate it, thanks.

**Marik:** Thanks for favoriting and reviewing! Keep on reading and doing just that!

**Kayla:** And check out her Deviant-Art page!

**Bakura:** We'll obviously be back next chapter. Bye.


	8. Fear

**AGKamon:** Welcome back loyal and totally awesome readers! I don't really have any important to except that school's being a complete pain! * collapses on nearby couch and whines* I shouldn't have homework every night!

**Bakura:** She *points at AG* will be replying to your reviews at the end of the chapter, like usual.

**Marik:** So I'll get this show on the road by saying the- *is interrupted*

**Kayla:** *glomps Bakura and interrupts* I'll say the disclaimer! AuraGuardianKamon18 also known as AGKamon or AG doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bakura, or Marik. She only owns me.

**Bakura:** *somehow blushes slightly* Wha? G-get off me!

**Marik:** Hey Bakura, since when do you stutter?

**Bakura:** *gets angry* I was surprised, alright? Start the stupid chapter...

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

I felt a shudder travel down my spine, and I knew something wasn't right at once. My eyes opened slowly, and a frightening thought hit me; there wasn't anyone in here. Immediately, I felt some fear threatening to course through my veins.

"Bakura?" My voice sounded small in the seemingly empty room. I waited a few moments to see if I could hear a sound, any sound at all. But I couldn't; it was silent.

"Bakura…you there?" I called again; I sounded more fearful, my voice was starting to get shaky by now. That was never a good sign. Suppressing a shiver, I hopped out of my bed and looked around.

_It's so eerie when it's dark in here…and empty…and… _I quickly shook my head to rid myself of the scary thoughts threatening my possible impending loneliness.

_Bakura wouldn't do that! He said so; as long as he's around, I'm not alone! But…where is he? _I knew that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep without knowing where he was, so I changed, grabbed my equipment, and quietly slipped out of the room. I waited a few moments outside the door, allowing my eyes to adjust to the pitch-black hallways before I cautiously stepped forward. The sound echoed through the empty air, and I flinched at how loud it was. Contemplating a plan, I tapped the communicator behind my ear, hoping Bakura would get my call. Marik wouldn't hear anything because his communication device had been shattered when his dark side took over.

"Bakura? Bakura, come on tell me where you are!" I whispered, panic was starting to set in. There was no other option, I had to look for him. Taking one last look at the room I'd be leaving behind, I took off running.

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I glanced at the cards in my hand before a familiar sound entering my ears.

"Bakura? Bakura, come on tell me where you are!" I almost flinched at the tone of her voice; she sounded afraid. Cursing under my breath, I realized that once again, one of Marik's plans had failed - or was going to. Marik's dark side had this duel in the palm of his hand, and it seemed as though there was nothing I could do to turn the tables on this dark figure. However, this was to protect her, and I'd keep fighting until my last breath to keep her safe. I wasn't sure why I'd felt attracted to her, of all girls, but she had me falling for her. Hard.

My free hand clenched into a fist because of my frustration as I selected my move, hoping to drag this duel out long enough until I could come up with a strategy to banish this being to the Shadow Realm permanently. It tugged on the heartstrings I didn't know I had anymore, but I ignored her voice calling my name. Even as I could hear fear and distress penetrating it more every time she called.

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

He wasn't answering my calls. That fact worried me enough to send me rushing through the hallways of the blimp, frantically looking for him wherever I went. I tapped the communicator for what I thought, seemed to be at least the fifth time.

"B-Bakura…c'mon…where are you?" I only got empty static as a response, no sounds at all and definitely not the slightly British-accented voice I was hoping to hear. My breathing was heavy from running, and I stayed still, panting to catch my breath before taking off again. I was sure I had checked everywhere; so where could that Egyptian spirit be? Suddenly, I stopped, coming to a realization.

"The duel arena, of course." I turned around and entered the elevator I'd just passed, tapping my foot impatiently as it made its way to the top of the blimp. A freezing blast of wind greeted me as the doors opened, and they made me wish that I'd remembered to bring a coat with me. There was a dark, desolate feeling hanging in the air, and living with Bakura and Marik taught me to know that feeling. Whoever was out here was having a Shadow Duel, and I'd just walked in on it.

_It wouldn't surprise if Dark Marik's partially the cause of this and…oh no! Bakura! _I fought back against the raging wind pushing me back to confirm whether my worries were true. The first thing that I saw was the Winged Dragon of Ra that Marik had told me about; now Dark Marik's involvement was obvious. Tearing my eyes away from the golden beast, I let them travel toward the other side of the arena. A head of white hair caught my eye. A barely visible, tanned form was standing slightly behind him; both of them were glaring at the dark half of Marik. The gasp I felt coming was caught in my throat.

_Is that…Marik? The good one? _I opened my mouth to speak, but a certain translucent Egyptian spoke first when his purple eyes happened to glance in my direction.

"Kayla?" I saw Bakura's form stiffen slightly as he looked toward me as well. He seemed surprised that I'd found him, but there was a worried look in his eyes.

"You should've given up; what are you doing here?" he asked. I mentally questioned why he thought I'd give up on anything, but I quickly disregarded the thought in favor of answering him.

"I was worried when I woke up and couldn't find you. You wouldn't answer your communicator, so I looked everywhere," I replied, raising my voice over the wind. The slight glare that was always in his eyes softened before he turned back toward the duel he was obviously losing. His eyes were mostly looking at the ground; they had the look of a kid when they've failed something they wanted to do.

"You should've stayed in our room; there's nothing you can do now." The tone of voice he used was the same as the tone he used to comfort me; softer and gentler than usual, but still firm. I glared at Dark Marik when he cackled at Bakura's apparent worry for me.

"How touching, you seem to care for the girl. I might just have to pay her a visit after you and my weaker half are banished to the Shadow Realm!" I felt a shiver course through my body, and my fear tripled. I know about sanity and insanity, and that being was completely psychotic; he could and would do absolutely anything to me. And I really mean **anything;** as long as it involved pain, that thing would probably go for it. Bakura's head jerked up at Dark Marik's words to look at him, a murderous gleam in his eyes.

"This is between you and me, Marik! Leave her out of it!" Bakura snapped. Both Mariks seemed stunned at the white-haired spirit's outburst and clear protectiveness over me. Dark Marik grinned before replying.

"You can't be sure of that when you're in the Shadow Realm, now can you? However, first things first: Winged Dragon of Ra, attack them and end this duel!" Dark Marik ordered. A sphere of flames formed in the golden dragon's mouth as I felt a sudden urge to run and protect the two people I cared about, but I was frozen to my spot with fear. I couldn't run away either; how could I bring myself to leave my friends behind? Even as their cries of pain echoed through my head.

The flames subsided to reveal Bakura's form slowly giving away to darkness, and I turned away to hide the tears I didn't know had welled up in my eyes.

"Any last words before you're sent to the Shadow Realm?" Dark Marik asked tauntingly. I felt myself start to shake slightly, whether it was from fear of Dark Marik, fear of being alone again, the cold, or a mixture of the three - I couldn't be sure.

"Kayla…I need you to know something…" Bakura started, his voice was uncharacteristically weak and shaky. I turned back to him; his expression seemed softer but also more solemn, as if he thought it was the last time he'd ever see me again. As if it was the final time he'd ever see anything but darkness. He seemed to contemplate his next words before he spoke once more.

"You're the one I needed; I think I might've fallen for you…" The sound of the Millennium Ring clattering to the floor signaled his departure to the Shadow Realm. As the words continued to run through my mind a second and a third time, I felt my cheeks heat up slightly.

_He'd fallen for me…? It all makes sense now… _Dark Marik stepped forward victoriously to claim the Ring, but I had another plan in store. I climbed onto the arena, snatched the Ring, and took off as quickly as my legs could carry me. I wanted to get Bakura's Ring and myself as far away from that monster that I could manage without tiring myself too much. As I continued pushing my legs to run the fastest I've ever run in my life, I put the Ring over my head so it'd hang loosely around my neck. I turned my head to see if he was behind me, and that's when I ran into something. Or some**one**, since the obstacle seemed softer than the metal walls of the blimp. One plea chanted itself in my mind as I turned to look in front of me once more:

_Please don't be Dark Marik…please don't be Dark Marik…please don't be Dark Marik!_

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> *sing-song voice* Oh~ cliffhanger~! Bakura finally confessed his feelings, how sweet!

**Kayla:** Marik, your dark side's a sadistic, psychotic, monster.

**Marik:** *sighs* I know...

**Bakura:** Why did I listen to another one of your plans, Marik? I should have known it'd fail like all of them do!

**Marik:** H-hey! My plans aren't that bad!

**AGKamon:** I'll start replying to the reviews before you two start an argument:

**_katz341 - _**I thank you for looking at the picture, and you commented on it on deviantart too! It did take a long time to do the shading, and if you were wondering, the picture was drawn and colored in the usual paint program that came with my computer, and I blended the shading and did the writing in Photoshop. And I can't wait for the next chapter of Exercise!

_**Adriatic Rose - **_I love the way this story of mine is going, so I will certainly keep up the good work! ...I've heard a lot of good things about the Phantom of the Opera, but I've never actually read it...I think I should though. I'm still glad you're an obedient friend!

**_sorecess of the nile - _**Glad you liked the chapter, and yes, it is true that Bakura's always in a good mood. But to the people who write fan-fiction about him, we don't mind right? I made him not in a completely horrible mood, and he still seems kind of in character, so I'm pretty sure it's possible for him to have a 'good mood', but no one's ever seen it. What a shame...

Thanks for reviewing all of you. Also thanks to katz341 for putting me on their favorite authors list and putting this story on her favorites list, I'm not sure if I already thanked you, Adriatic Rose for putting Neutral on their favorites list and story alert list. Whenever I get your reviews, I feel like I have fans and it boosts my horrible self-confidence. Thanks again!

**Bakura:** *still glaring at Marik*

**Marik:** *also still glaring at Bakura*

**Kayla:** *looks nervous* Uh...we'll get this sorted out somehow...see ya next chapter!


	9. Scream

**AGKamon:** Greetings readers!

**Marik:** Hi.

**AGKamon: **Anyway, you'll be happy to know that I'm working on another piece of art that's related to **Neutral**, however, I am still being swarmed by homework. I swear that teachers think we students don't have lives. Also, my entire grade is going on a week-long field trip that starts on the 24th of this month. I'll try to get out another chapter by then, but you never know.

**Kayla:** Bakura, will you say the disclaimer?

**Bakura:** *would've said no to anyone else* Fine. AGKamon doesn't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh!, she only owns Kayla.

**AGKamon: **Personally, I think I got Yami Marik pretty much in character, but tell what you guys think. I'm not used to writing people who are that crazy. Start the chapter!

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

"Monique? Is that you? Are you alright?" a familiar voice worried. Wait, I've heard that voice before! I slowly looked up from the floor I'd been staring at to meet the purple eyes belonging to the Pharaoh; he was holding his hand out to me expectantly. Shakily, I took it, and he gently pulled me to my feet.

"I-I could be better…" I stammered. Cautiously, I glanced behind me once more; there was still no one there. Quickly, I tried to think of a plan; there was only one person left on this blimp that I knew could help me, and that person was standing right in front of me.

_What's the harm in telling the Pharaoh? Even though my relations to Bakura and Marik technically make me his enemy; the Pharaoh will help anyone who needs assistance, and Bakura would understand my position._

"Are you hurt?" he asked. I swallowed a lump in my throat before speaking, and my fear simmered down so I could think straight. Instantly, I knew what to say.

"N-no, but there is something you need to know…Pharaoh." I heard him suck in a breath of air in shock.

"How do you know that?"

"My, my, Pharaoh, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out earlier. I will tell you everything, if you protect me."

"Protect you from who?"

"Who else? Marik's psychotic evil half! So, how about it, Pharaoh? Is it a deal?" I questioned. He was reacting just as I'd hoped.

"We'll talk in my room, this way." He beckoned for me to follow him, and I smirked while I did so.

* * *

><p>"So what is this 'it' I was supposed to figure out?" the Pharaoh sighed as he sat himself in one of the armchairs in his room.<p>

"Well…my name is not Monique LeBlanc, I'm not Bakura's girlfriend, I don't have a drop of French blood in me, and I only know the darker Bakura. I also know both sides of Marik, but the lighter side is kinda like a friend to me; the darker side is after me and completely creeps me out. Neither of them will admit it, but I'm probably Marik and Bakura's only friend; I was also their accomplice…before they…were sent to the…Shadow Realm…" That's when the reality of my current situation really set in.

_He's gone…Bakura's really gone…_

"So who are you really?"

"Kayla…Kayla Kossori…" I replied, my voice sounded depressed and monotonous, even to my own ears. A thought ran through my mind.

_I feel the same way about Bakura, don't I?_

"Why did you agree to, uh, work with Marik and Bakura?" he continued to question, but I didn't care anymore. I was already starting to miss Bakura. I was even missing Marik a little.

"Heh, it was my idea. I'd been spying on them for fun for a month before I revealed myself to them; then I threatened to find and tell you everything I knew if they didn't let me hang out with them. Obviously, they agreed to my terms." I smiled sadly at the vivid memory.

"Alright…what did you help them with?"

"First of all, I've been spying on you, Pharaoh, since I met them. I also helped Bakura and Marik out in their ruse to get Marik into your group of friends by playing the part of Bakura's concerned, French girlfriend Monique LeBlanc. Although…I think Bakura would be better off if he stopped listening to Marik; his plans always fail and Bakura's the one that always gets hurt…" I sighed and shifted my eyes to stare out the window.

"Why do you care? The darker side of Bakura doesn't care about-" the Pharaoh started.

"The last time someone said Bakura didn't care about me and didn't think of me like a friend got slapped. Do you want to get slapped Pharaoh?"

"Um, no. Sorry about that, but I've never seen the Spirit of the Millennium Ring care about anyone besides himself. It's a little hard to believe that he's capable of such emotions."

"Well, he is. I'm not…completely sure why he cares about me, but he does. Bakura's proven that to me on a number of occasions; he's an enemy to you though, so it makes sense that he wouldn't allow you to see his softer side. However, I cared about him, and he returned the favor by caring about me. Bakura was the only person protecting from Dark Marik, but now he's gone…"

"What happened to him? You said Marik and Bakura were sent to the Shadow Realm, but what happened?"

"Bakura didn't trust me alone while Dark Marik was running around, so he told me to stay in his room until that monster was taken care of. I was fine with that, and everything was great until I woke up earlier tonight. Bakura wasn't around, so I went looking for him. I found him and the spirit of the better Marik in the duel arena with Dark Marik. It was the end of the duel, Dark Marik must've of just summoned the Winged Dragon of Ra. Long story short, Dark Marik threatened to find me, Bakura told him to leave me alone, Ra attacked him and Marik - sending them to the Shadow Realm, I took the Millennium Ring before Dark Marik could, and I took off. That's when I ran into you…"

"You've spun a very interesting tale…Kayla, but how do I know if I can believe you? You've lied before after all." He was right, how could I get him to believe me? However, I needed him to believe me if he was going to help me survive. So I decided to act desperate; in truth, I needed him to protect me. There was no one else left.

"Please, you have believe me! If I go back out there, Dark Marik's gonna kill me…I don't know what to do anymore. I'm all alone now, Bakura and Marik are gone, and there's no one left who cares. I just need you to keep me out of Dark Marik's grasp until he's taken down. Although my relations with Bakura and Marik would normally make me your enemy, you're my only hope, Pharaoh! Please." He looked into my eyes, but he didn't reply.

"You seem sincere, but you were able to keep us fooled for so long, so I'm not sure whether I should believe you…" he commented.

"Why not? Are you upset that I, a mortal, fooled the great Pharaoh?"

_Why can't he just believe me? Obviously, I was wrong in thinking he'd help me._

"No, that's not it at all! I just don't want you to be tricking me again so you can hurt me or my friends."

"Take a leap of faith, Pharaoh. Believe me, or I'm leaving. I have no reason to stick around if you're not gonna protect me." He scanned my eyes again, probably looking for any sign of deceit.

"…I…I'm not sure. I can't bring myself to trust you, I'm sorry," he said. I was shocked, he really couldn't believe me? I was being completely honest!

"You'll regret that when Dark Marik gets me…" I sighed before exiting the room.

"At least I have the Ring with me, it makes me feel a bit more at ease, but not by much," I said when I arrived at the room I used to share with Bakura. Suddenly, I felt the temperature drop, and the air felt heavier and darker. The sensation of a finger trailing down my spine made me whirl around, leaning against the door behind me. My eyes were wide when they met a pair of dark-purple ones.

"Ah, my dear, it seems the Pharaoh won't protect you. It's such a shame, isn't it?" Dark Marik purred, tracing lines on my face with his Millennium Rod, somehow, I managed to avoid getting pricked with the point.

"Wh-what d-do you want with m-me?" I stuttered, leaning as far away from him as possible. He simply leaned in closer; I was almost pinned against the metal door behind me.

"You are a very attractive young woman, my dear, I want to hear you scream with that pretty little voice of yours. Won't you give me that?" My blood chilled at the sadistic smirk he was wearing as he obviously eyed me and my terrified expression.

"N-no. J-just leave me alone…" I whimpered.

"Now, now, my dear, I'm afraid that wasn't the answer I was looking for. I'll give you one more chance to give yourself up willingly, but trust me, my dear, I don't take 'no' for an answer." He danced his fingertips down to my wrist from my shoulder; his hand then suddenly gripped my wrist. I winced at the strong hold he had, but I didn't react otherwise.

_Someone please help me…_

"Please…don't do this," I pleaded.

"Sorry, my dear, but we're going to have to do this the hard way. You'll be coming with me, if you don't mind." He harshly tugged me behind him in the direction of Marik's room, which he now occupied. Obviously, he didn't care whether I minded or not.

"No! Let me go!" I cried, desperately trying to pull out of his grip. His hand was like a metal cuff around my wrist; it didn't budge. He laughed at my panicked reaction.

"My dear, I'm going to enjoy hearing you strain your voice until you're rendered unable to speak." Next thing I knew, I was shoved through the doorway and landed on the floor. I looked up at the tanned monster standing over me.

_Bakura…where are you…?_

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

The air was silent, eerily so, except for the sound of quiet footsteps. It was so utterly dark that I could barely see a few feet in front of me.

"Bakura, can we rest yet?" an annoying voice whined. Ah yes, and then there was the fact that I was stuck here with Marik of all mortals. This was officially the worst trip to the Shadow Realm I've ever had.

We had been walking for hours since we awoke here in the Shadow Realm, and I needed to find the portal screen. It would allow me to see where Kayla was and what she was doing, but it was usually hidden and extremely difficult to find.

"You can, but I'll leave you behind. I don't care either way," I replied.

"Why are we looking for this thing again?"

"It will allow me to see how she's fairing without us around. I fear for her safety, as she's been left without protection from your dark side."

"You really do care for her, don't you?"

"So what if I do?"

"I've never really seen you get so worked up over anything; it's good to know that it's possible for you to care about someone other than yourself."

"Whatever. Although, why'd she slap you?" I heard Marik laugh behind me.

"I was about to say that you couldn't care less about her; she really surprised me!"

_She was mad enough to slap Marik just because he was going to say that…? I wonder-_ My thoughts were cut off by a sudden, feminine scream. Even with the high-pitch distorting her voice, I knew who it was.

"Hey Bakura, didn't that sound like…?"

"Kayla…" I whispered. Without a second thought, I took off in the direction of it.

"Bakura wait!" I faintly heard the Egyptian call behind me, and the slight sound of a second pair of running footsteps told me he was following me. A square-shaped block of multi-colored light ahead of me caught my attention.

_The portal screen._

"Let me go, please!" That was her voice again. I forced my legs to push me toward the light faster until I stopped directly in front of it, slightly panting.

"No…" I breathed at seeing the image.

"Bakura what the - Oh dear Ra…" Marik voice's alerted me to his presence next to me. The portal screen depicted the situation she'd currently found herself in. My fears were confirmed, Dark Marik had gotten to her.

"**Oh, come now, my dear…why must you make this difficult for me? All I wish is to hear you scream again," Dark Marik purred, kneeling down to her level. He held onto one of her shoulders when she tried to move away. There was a trickle of blood running down her arm; he'd probably done that with the blade on the end of the Millennium Rod.**

"**N-no…please, let me go…" Kayla whimpered, letting out a small yelp when he pressed the tip of one of his fingers into the cut she had on her upper arm. Her midnight-blue eyes were brimming with tears that she refused to let fall, and she watched in horror as Dark Marik sampled the blood he'd collected on his finger. He grinned as he grabbed the Millennium Rod from the ground next to him; the blade on the end gleamed menacingly in the moonlight streaming in from the windows.**

"**Then I'll just have to find a way to make you scream, my dear..."**

"He's crazier than I ever imagined," Marik said quietly, eyes wide.

"We have to find a way out of here, Marik. She counts us as her friends; we can't let the trust she put in us to waste." The images on the portal screen had faded, leaving me with no idea on what was happening to her now.

"Agreed, at least one of us has to get out there."

"Then let's get going," I ordered. There were things that had to be done in order for both of us to be able to escape in time. Still, I knew, she would die a slow and painful death if we didn't save her, and I needed her to be alive.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Originally, I made the Pharaoh help Kayla, but that wouldn't be as dramatic, would it?

**Kayla:** I guess not...reply to the reviews now!

**AGKamon:** I was getting to that...

**_katz341 - _**You were right, she encountered Yami! I eagerly returned your 5 cyberhugs because you loved the last chapter and called it 'amazah'. Yeah, I'm still trying to get used to Photoshop, and I've done some other pieces in Paint, so I guess that's why it came out well. I figured out how to get my pencil/paper drawings on my computer, so the one I'm working on is using that method, and I'm completely using Photoshop for it. Tablets are very magical, you gotta catch 'em all! Oh dear Ra, I can't believe I just referenced Pokemon... Moving on~, I'm totally looking forward to the next chapter of Exercise, and you're next review.

**_sorecess of the nile - _**Yay~! Both my reviewers were right in thinking it was Yami! And also, I'm glad you think Marik and Bakura are pretty much in character because I'm trying to accomplish that. If you thought Yami Marik was terrible last chapter, I would love to see how you describe him now...

Thanks to both of you for reviewing again! Let's try to get to 20 reviews~! Just 3 more to go!

**Bakura:** *rolls eyes* There's nowhere else for us to go, so we'll obviously be here next chapter.

**Marik:** See you then!

**Kayla:** *glomps Bakura* Keep reading and reviewing!

**Bakura:** W-would you stop doing that?

**Marik:** Hey...you stuttered again...

**Bakura:** Shut up, Marik.

**AGKamon:** *ignores the argument between Marik and Bakura that will obviously happen* I'm looking forward to your reviews! *waves*


	10. Protective

**AGKamon: **Hey~! I got another chapter out before I have to go to that camp for school, and this is the tenth chapter! Also, one more review until we have twenty!

**Kayla:** Alright! *cheers*

**AGKamon:** I also uploaded another piece of artwork onto my Deviantart, I didn't edit it at all on the computer, so it's paper, pencil, and pen, but I think it's really awesome. Who wants to say the disclaimer?

**Marik:** I will. AGKamon doesn't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! She only owns Kayla Kossori, her OC.

**AGKamon:** Start the chapter, also, I hope Yami Marik's still in character. And the random appearance of Zorc doesn't affect anything much, but he's the creator of the Shadow Realm. I thought it was fitting in that point of the chapter; I think I made him way too friendly. Whoops~!

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I quickly reviewed the ways of escaping the Shadow Realm, most of them would take time. We don't have that kind of time to spare, I'm sure of that.

"What are we going to do, Bakura?" Marik inquired. I could hear a hint of desperation and worry in his whiny voice, as well as a bit of guilt.

_Good, he should feel guilty. It's his psychotic dark side that got all of us in this mess, and now Kayla's in danger because of it._

"Shut up, Marik, I am trying to think," I growled back.

_Let's see, the ways to escape the Shadow Realm are:_

_1. Remind Zorc of a debt he has to repay to you (Darn, I already used that one last time I was sent here…)_

_2. Wait for the Pharaoh/anyone else to defeat the being who sent you to the Shadow Realm (That'll take too long…)_

_3. Appeal to the Egyptian Gods (Ugh, they already hate me…and most likely, Marik…)_

_4. Do a favor for Zorc (No…it'll take too long, and there's no way I'll do a favor for him.)_

_And 5. Sacrifice a large amount of my power; Zorc will absorb this power, and in return, will create a portal for one soul to escape the Shadow Realm (Well, it's the only one left, but should I go, or should Marik?)_

"Marik, if there was a way to escape, but only one of us could leave, what is your opinion on who could protect her better?" I questioned. I wasn't sure why I was asking him; the words simply came out of my mouth before I could think them over. That's been happening a lot lately; everything about me seems to be changing slightly ever since I met her.

"Well, normally, I'd answer with myself, but I can tell, Bakura, you need to see Kayla again. So you go ahead; I'll be fine here for a while. After all, I'll be let out as soon as my dark half's gone, right?" he replied. I sent a very slight, thankful smile his way, but he didn't notice because of the darkness. Thank Ra, he'd probably think I was going soft.

"Hm, you're still annoying, but you're not as bad as most mortals I've met. …I have to say thank you; I'll make sure that you escape this horrible place."

"What? Wait, you were serious when you said there was a way out?"

"Of course, why would I ask otherwise? Marik, you already decided, I'm going." I held my hands out in front of me, palms-up, and shut my eyes. I felt a warmth leaving my body and fleeing to my hands, slowly I opened my eyes again. Two small spheres of glowing, golden light were floating inches above my palms. As if I were tossing a ball, I threw the lights above me, and they faded away. My body felt heavier, as if I were injured or had lost a large amount of my blood, but that feeling would go away eventually. I have escaped the Shadow Realm enough times to know that.

"**Who is asking for permission to return to the human world?"**a booming voice asked. It came from nowhere, and yet, you could hear it everywhere. It sounded like Zorc was in a good mood.

"I have, Zorc. May I be allowed to return?"

"**What reason do you have to sacrifice your power? It must be important…" **he inquired.

"I do not have time for this Zorc! There's someone out there that I need to protect!" I remarked.

"**Oh? Then, I shall not let your sacrifice be in vain, Bakura. However, I think it's a good idea that you come visit after you finish protecting this 'someone'."**

"Sure, whatever. ...Farewell, Marik, if I'm not around when you come back, take care of her for me, alright?"

"Of course, I've started to think of her as a friend as well," he said. I felt myself floating upward, and then, everything vanished.

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

I began shaking severely when the automatic doors opened to reveal Dark Marik.

"My dear, how have you been?" he asked, kneeling down to look me in the eyes. Once again, I pulled at the cuffs made from Shadow Magic that he'd put on my wrists using the Millennium Rod; they only dug into my wrists in return. I was unable to speak due to my fear, so I simply attempted to move farther away from him, but I was already backed against the wall.

"No answer? That's really too bad; are you already losing your voice? Hm, there's only one way to test that theory seeing as you won't talk to me, and I think I've stumbled upon a new idea to accompany this little 'test' of mine." I pathetically whimpered out something that vaguely sounded like a 'no', but I couldn't be sure.

"Everyone on the blimp left, my dear, you can be as loud as you want…" he purred, moving me so I was facing the wall and my back was facing him. I shuddered as his strangely cold breath fanned over my neck, and the blade of the Millennium Rod traced along the wound it had left on my arm before, which had begun to scab over. I flinched at the combined feelings, and I felt his nose trail down the side of my neck until his chin hit my shoulder.

_What's he doing this time?_

"I assure you, my dear, you're going to enjoy this just as much as I will." Suddenly, a flash of golden light coming from the Millennium Ring around my neck made him pause whatever he was doing. Apparently, he never needed it, and I was a better 'prize' as he'd told me later. As quickly as the light appeared, it vanished and took the ancient golden artifact with it.

My blood chilled when I felt his slightly pointed teeth scrape against my skin while his fingers danced up and down my spine. I waited fearfully for the blade to pierce my skin, so I yelped loudly when his teeth unexpectedly bit down, enough to draw blood.

_Why is he doing this? Where's Bakura?_

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

It felt like I was falling from an extreme height when I suddenly appeared in my old room on the blimp. My eyes quickly scanned the room; she wasn't here, no one was. A small weight on my neck made me look down to learn that the Millennium Ring was with me once again; mentally, I briefly questioned how it got back to me as it was with her before, but that thought was discarded quickly. I could think about that later, but for now, I needed to find her.

"Where could they be?" I whispered to myself as I exited the room; it was too quiet, I noted. I knew where they'd probably be, Marik's room. After all, that monster had taken it over when the real Marik left. I was about to continue down the hallway toward said room when I heard a fairly loud scream, in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, I turned on my heels and sprinted in the direction of the cry that I knew belonged to the girl I was searching for.

The sound of murmuring from behind one of the doors caused me to lean against it to listen better.

"Ah, you see, my dear, I knew that'd make you scream. How about one more?" the dreadfully familiar voice belonging to Dark Marik said; my blood boiled at the way he talked to her. His voice sounded sickeningly seductive, and although I knew she was terrified of him, not attracted, the tone he used still made my stomach turn. I glanced at the lock next to the doors, and quickly forced it open, rushing through the doors only to reveal that there was no one there.

"But I was sure I heard him in here…" I muttered angrily, glaring at the shadows scattered in the farthest reaches of the room. A low chuckle filled the air, and I looked toward it.

"I never knew you'd be back so soon, Bakura; I wanted to have some more fun with you female friend, where'd she go anyway?" Dark Marik said.

"Just give her back to me!" I exclaimed. The display of anger shocked me; did I really care about her that much?

"Oh, where would be the fun in that?" he taunted, tilting his head in an attempt to look innocent. It was something he'd never be able to do. A soft whimpering caught my attention, and I turned toward it.

"Looks like she gave away her hiding place; such a disappointment. Ah well, I might as well bring her out now." He clicked his tongue, and the shadows next to him shifted and basically spat out a weak-looking dark-blue haired girl. She stayed kneeling on the floor; I could tell her entire body was shivering. A small trail of what looked to be blood ran down from the crook between her neck and shoulder, and another injury on her upper arm was beginning to scab over.

"Kayla," I breathed, slightly stunned at how her current state reminded me of a glass doll set on the edge of a table. A single wrong movement would send her tumbling over the edge, and she'd break. What would break first: her body or the little sanity she had left? I had to worry about that.

"N-no more…" The pitiful tone was heart-wrenching, even to me. I never knew that there'd ever be a person, a mortal, who could cause the changes in my demeanor that she unknowingly did.

"Let her go! She doesn't deserve this!" I shouted, taking a threatening step toward the being. He didn't flinch, and a smirk curved on his face. I could now see a hint of red tainting his lips from where I was standing.

_What did he do? Bite her?_

"Oh? And what does she deserve?" he inquired. I blinked, confused by his question, but I took a moment to think it over. My words were chosen carefully, and I spoke slowly so I didn't say anything that I didn't want to say.

"Well…she doesn't deserve to be hurt anymore, that's for sure. She needs to be taken care of and-" I started, but I was stopped when Dark Marik frowned and interrupted me.

"So she's broken and boring, is what you're saying?"

"No, not at all! She's more fragile than she acts is what I'm saying, and she needs someone who'll care about her. Just let her go, why do you want her anyway?"

"It's fun to hear her scream and cry. Everytime I come in the room she starts shaking like a leaf; it's entertaining, honestly," he responded. I walked up to him and grabbed the collar of his black tank top, holding him close to my face. His smirk returned as I glared murderously at him.

"You're twisted, you make me sick. I've told you three times, this'll make four: let her go."

"Why should I?"

"She's of no use to you, she's just a toy. You'll get bored soon enough, why don't I take her off your hands?" I didn't like the idea of bargaining to get her back; it would make her seem like an object and not a person. However, I knew it was the only way I could convince him to give her up.

"It's a tempting offer, but what's to stop me from sending the both of you to the Shadow Realm right now?"

"Nothing, you could easily do so."

"Hm, she is starting to lose her voice; that's all I want to hear…" he considered, looking down at her crouched form on the floor.

"How about we make a deal?"

"I'm listening."

"You let her go with me, in return, we'll both go to the Shadow Realm. You get more powerful with each soul you send there, right? We'll be giving you more power, and you won't have to deal with us. How about it?" I suggested. There was an agonizingly long pause of silence as he thought over my offer.

"…Sure. Take her; the screams I got today were nothing compared to before." I smirked, releasing the Egyptian's collar and kneeling before the girl.

"Kayla, come on, it's me…" I coaxed, holding a hand out to her. Shakily, her head lifted to look at my hand and then my hand; her midnight-blue eyes were tired and teary.

"Ba…Bakura?" she whispered; her hand started to inch towards mine.

"Yes, it's me. Come now, darling, do you really think I'd abandon you like that?" I ran the words over again in my head.

_Where did darling come from? _Lightly, she placed her hand on mine, and I carefully entwined our fingers.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me alone…" she said, moving closer to me so her head rested on my shoulder. I turned my head and glared at Dark Marik just as he lifted the Millennium Rod and pointed it at me. Then there was a blinding, golden flash of light, and I could feel her hand grip mine tighter while her other grasped my shirt, searching for some from of comfort and safety.

_For now, I can give her that... _I loosely wrapped my free arm around her waist and awaited my return to the Shadow Realm.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Hm, Bakura really starts to show his protective/caring side in this chapter. I like how I write that side of him; it seems fitting, but not too out of character. Do you readers agree?

**Bakura:** Reviews, remember?

**AGKamon:** I know!

**_sorecess of the nile - _***pats you on the back while smiling* Nice job, slapping Yami Marik like that Elecktra. Although, I think Yami Marik's a lot more sadistic, evil, psychopathic, and a lot worst than Kaiba overall. Even though I'm not a Kaiba fan either...

**_katz341 - _**Pokemon is mostly win, but the Black/White generation/saga/whatever-you-wanna-call-it is kinda bad in my opinion. I stopped watching the anime because of it, but that's my opinion. People can think whatever they want. Also, I'm glad you think I did well with Yami Marik; I hope he's still great in this chapter. And, I am looking forward to Exercise! *appears with Kayla and encourages you while you continue to type furiously on Microsoft Word*

Thanks for reviewing, let's see which one of you makes reviewer number twenty!

**Bakura:** It's not like you'll win anything...besides, didn't you have something you wanted to ask the readers?

**Marik:** Yeah, I remember you complaining how you couldn't make up your mind...

**AGKamon:** Oh, right. Well, I was listening to the songs from the new album of my favorite singer, Cascada (think Evacuate the Dance-floor and Pyromania), and I thought 'hey, these would make some awesome songfics!'. So, what do you think about the idea of me making a set of Kayla/Bakura songfics based on the songs from that album? (Pyromania's on the album, fitting right?) Also, I need assistance thinking up a shipping name for Kayla and Bakura because Thiefshipping already taken...

**Marik:** It is? By who?

**Kayla:** You...don't want to know, Marik. It's yaoi, and AG's not into yaoi.

**AGKamon:** Try to make sure it's not already taken by another couple first, but I'll check out the names you come up with anyway! Okay, read and review my readers!


	11. Guilt

**AGKamon: **Yes! One more chapter before my school-related camp. I'm not completely excited, but I guess missing gym class is worth it... *hates gym class, but has never been away from home* Anyway, I had a hard time with this chapter at first, but I eventually decided to try writing from the point of view of someone beside Bakura and Kayla.

**Yami:** ...Why am I here again?

**AGKamon:** You're the center of attention this chapter, so I think you should say the disclaimer!

**Bakura:** I should kill you, Pharaoh, as you refused to protect Kayla. However, I know that killing you here won't change the plot of the fan-fiction.

**Yami:** Do I get to leave if I agree?

**Kayla:** Yeah... *glaring at Yami*

**Yami:** Uh...right. AGKamon doesn't own me, Bakura, Yami Marik, or anything else related to Yu-Gi-Oh! She only owns Kayla. I'll be going now.

**Marik:** Alright, whatever.

**Yami:** *leaves while muttering something about feeling 'extremely unwelcome'*

**AGKamon:** Start the chapter!

* * *

><p><span>Yami's P.O.V.<span>

A sigh escaped my lips as we quickly boarded the blimp again; Noah's intervention wasn't something I'd expected to happen during this tournament. As everyone gathered in the cockpit to watch us fly away from the entrance to Noah's virtual world, I noted that I felt exhausted. Even if it was only our minds that were active for so long, I felt like I could collapse soon.

"You alright, Yug?" Joey worried while we talked as we headed to our bedrooms that were generally in the same direction. I smiled tiredly up at him, stopping when I came to the hallway I needed to turn down that would separate us.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just think I need some sleep," I replied. He nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Mhm, I hear ya. We didn't get no sleep in that virtual world; Kaiba betta' give us a chance to rest." He directed a glare at said brunet, who happened to walk past the both of us. Next to Kaiba was his little brother, Mokuba, who, although seeming the most tired out of everyone, waved happily at us.

_He certainly seems happy to be out of the virtual world._ I returned the small boy's wave with a small one of my own; afterward, Mokuba went ahead down the hall he and brother were going down.

"Sure, whatever mutt," he grumbled, easily returning Joey's glare; he just barely flinched at the coldness of Kaiba's eyes.

_Some things will never change. _Saying a brief farewell to the blonde, I headed toward my room for some well-deserved rest. I had one foot through the doorway when I heard something that made my blood run cold. A scream from a girl. My first worry was that someone had gotten to Téa or Serenity, but then I remembered her warning.

* * *

><p><em>I looked into the dark-blue eyes of the girl who had previously called herself Monique, but I couldn't call her that anymore. Her name was Kayla; the story she told me was too intricate for someone to come up with in the short time she had, right? Then again, she did have us completely fooled about her identity. I could tell that there was truth in her somewhere, but I couldn't bring myself to trust her; I couldn't risk putting my friends or I in danger.<em>

"_You seem sincere, but you were able to keep us fooled for so long, so I'm not sure whether I should believe you…" I said slowly. Her eyes narrowed before she turned toward the door, but she kept glaring at me from over her shoulder._

"_Why not? Are you upset that I, a mortal, fooled the great Pharaoh?" she accused. The statement stunned me, surely that couldn't be it! I was trying to protect the people close to me, and she could be spinning me another tale full of lies._

"_No, that's not it at all! I just don't want you to be tricking me again so you can hurt me or my friends," I explained quickly. Her gloved hand grasped the doorknob, and she let out a few shaky breaths before she spoke once more. With her hand still holding the doorknob, she turned toward me again._

"_Take a leap of faith, Pharaoh. Believe me, or I'm leaving. I have no reason to stick around if you're not gonna protect me." Once more, I scanned her eyes for any sign of deceit, but I knew it wouldn't sway my decision. I couldn't detect the fact that she was lying to me before, so I couldn't trust myself with knowing whether she was telling the truth this time around._

"…_I…I'm not sure. I can't bring myself to trust you, I'm sorry." I lowered my head so I couldn't see the look in her eyes._

"_You'll regret that decision when Dark Marik gets me…" she warned. Her voice was cold, but I could hear a very slight hint of fear in her voice. She really was scared of him; if Bakura and the other Marik were gone like she said, then maybe she was telling the truth. However, by the time I'd realized this, the girl was gone._

* * *

><p>I had checked Bakura's room soon afterward, but there wasn't any sign of either of them.<p>

"But then again, this could just be my mind fooling me from hearing her warning, right?" I whispered uncertainly to myself. I would've been able to believe that if another, although slightly softer, scream hadn't followed my words. It didn't come from the direction Marik's room was in, but I still cautiously proceeded toward the feminine cry.

_Should I have believed her story?_ That thought had pestered and nagged me since we were forced to leave the blimp because of the plot Kaiba's stepbrother, Noah, had thought up. She had been left completely alone with Marik's darker side; even I'd be afraid to be left alone with that monster. She must've had some kind of skills that she'd used to assist Marik and Bakura in their ploys, but still, who knew how she'd be able to fair against him?

The sudden sound of a second pair of footsteps made me pause where I was and hide behind a corner; I heard a pair of doors open. Peering around the wall, I briefly caught a glance of what I thought was white hair.

_White hair? Bakura's in the Shadow Realm, how'd he escape so quickly? He's the only person who was ever on the blimp that has white hair._ My purple eyes narrowed, and I crept closer to the doors that had recently closed. The faint sound of two distinct voices entered my ears; I pressed the side of my head to the door so I could hear what they were saying.

**"Just give her back to me!" **My eyes widened at easily recognizing Bakura's voice. The anger as well as the desperation that filled his voice were surprising to me.

_So he has returned…are they arguing about her? Kayla? Does Bakura really care about her like she said?_

**"Oh, where would be the fun in that?" **Dark Marik's voice always sent a shiver running down my spine. I strained my ears when they fell silent, and I caught what seemed to be whimper. However, it was quiet, so I couldn't be sure.

**"Looks like she gave away her hiding place; such a disappointment. Ah well, might as well bring her out now," **Marik's darker half sighed, a small clicking sound followed. I briefly wondered what was happening in there, only being able to use one sense was frustrating, but I couldn't burst in there. Dark Marik and Bakura arguing over a girl that I suspected was Kayla, and I suddenly burst in; I could just imagine that it wouldn't end well for anyone.

**"Kayla…"** Bakura's tone of voice thoroughly shocked me. He actually sounded relieved at finding the blue-haired girl who was obviously in there and worried about her wellbeing. It was something I thought I'd never hear.

**"N-no more…"** The voice was female, and I determined quickly that it must've come from Kayla. Her tone made my heart crumble at the fact that I could've protected her, but I was too distrusting to believe she was genuine. I heard two more footsteps, coming from close to the doors; they were probably Bakura's.

**"Let her go! She doesn't deserve this!"** The amount of anger Bakura was showing toward Marik's dark side was still surprising to me. He sounded like he could pounce on him and attempt killing him with his bare hands any second. I've always seen Bakura display remarkable self-control and was able to hide his emotions well, but he was unleashing every feeling he had right now so they could easily be seen, or heard in my case.

**"Oh? And what does she deserve?"** Dark Marik asked. The question confused me, as it was completely unrelated to the conversation. However, I awaited Bakura's reply; I wanted to hear how he'd answer. He voiced his words slowly, as if he were trying to choose them carefully and wasn't completely sure about what he was saying.

**"Well…she doesn't deserve to be hurt anymore, that's for sure. She needs to be taken care of and-"** Bakura was suddenly cut off by Marik's dark half.

**"So she's broken and boring, is that what you're saying?"** I raised an eyebrow at his statement, wondering where he was going with this.

**"No, not at all! She's more fragile than she acts is what I'm saying, and she needs someone who'll take care of her. Just let her go, what do you want with her anyway?"**

_How does Bakura know any of this about her? Just how close are they? He definitely seems willing to risk himself to get her back._

**"It's fun to hear her scream and cry. Everytime I come in the room, she starts shaking like a leaf; it's entertaining honestly."** I wrinkled my nose in disgust at Dark Marik's reasoning.

_How pathetic…_

**"You're twisted, you make me sick. I've told you three times, this'll make four: let her go."** It interested me that even Bakura thought he was psychotic, a monster.

**"Why should I?"**

**"She's of no use to you, she's just a toy. You'll get bored soon enough, why don't I take her off your hands?"** There was a slight edge in Bakura's voice that made me think it over briefly.

_He sounds almost disgusted at the idea of bargaining for her. That proves she's more than a toy or a pawn to him._

**"It's a tempting offer, but what's to stop me from sending the both of you to the Shadow Realm right now?"**

**"Nothing, you could easily do so."**

_He's even willing to return to the Shadow Realm just to get her back?_ The very idea was astonishing to me; I never thought I would ever see the day that Bakura cared about someone, let alone sacrifice his freedom for anyone.

**"Hm, she is starting to lose her voice; that's all I want to hear…"**

**"How about we make a deal?" **Bakura suggested. I honestly wondered what he'd come up with; he was cunning, and I didn't see him as one to keep his word.

**"I'm listening."**

**"You let her go with me, in return, we'll both go to the Shadow Realm. You get more powerful with each soul you send there, right? We'll be giving you more power, and you won't have to deal with us. How about it?"**

_So Marik's dark side gains more strength with each person he sends to the Shadow Realm…listening to this is more beneficial than I thought it would be. _There was a long pause of silence, and I waited for Dark Marik's decision. I barely noticed the fact that I was holding my breath.

**"**…**Sure. Take her; the screams I got today were nothing compared to before."** It disgusted me that all he cared about were her screams. It was like he thought the only part of her that was worth anything was her voice when it was obvious that Bakura thought she was important enough to risk himself for.

**"Kayla, come on, it's me…" **Bakura actually sounded, gentle. His voice was soft, and his slight British accent was amplified by that fact. It actually reminded me of a harsher version of the good Bakura's voice. The girl's answer was so quiet that I couldn't hear it through the metal doors.

**"Yes, it's me. Come now, darling, do you really think I'd abandon you like that?"** The entire sentence was filled with the relief Bakura must've been feeling at seeing her. However, one word in particular stuck out.

_Darling. He called her 'darling'. Why?_

**"I knew you wouldn't leave me alone…" **Her voice was so quiet that I could barely hear her speak, but I was able to make out the words. It sounded like she completely trusted Bakura. Then the room fell completely silent. Suddenly, there was a golden flash that filled the room, and it streamed out from a gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. It reminded me of the lights that were normally emitted from the Millennium Items.

_He must've sent them to the Shadow Realm; Bakura actually kept his word…_

The sound of footsteps approaching the door I was leaning on caused me to step away from it and distance myself. You could never be too careful with Marik's dark side.

"Ah, greetings Pharaoh. It's a nice evening, isn't it?" the darker half of Marik greeting. The smirk he was wearing confirmed the pair's fate; they were now condemned to the darkness of the Shadow Realm.

"What did you do?" I questioned. He frowned, and I thought I saw a hint of a red substance on his lips.

_What is that…blood…?_

"It's partially your fault, Pharaoh, if only you'd believed her story. Maybe she wouldn't have had to be rescued by that white-haired annoyance, and maybe she wouldn't be in the Shadow Realm with him now. Then again, I probably would've found her anyways." He shrugged uncaringly as he spoke.

_So she really wasn't lying…. Now she's in the Shadow Realm, and it could've been prevented if I'd just believed her!_

"White-haired…how did Bakura get back here, I wonder…" I thought out loud.

"It's not my problem. I hope to see you in the finals, Pharaoh. Farewell." I was left to my thoughts as the crazed Egyptian walked away.

_I would've thought Bakura would try harder to avoid being sent to the Shadow Realm…. He was more help in saving her than I was; I never thought I'd see a day where Bakura was the hero._

A feeling quickly bubbled up inside me, causing my expression to sadden and my stomach to turn. I had the chance to keep that girl, Kayla, safe and away from Dark Marik, but I turned her away when she came asking for my help. It took me a few moments to recognize the feeling as I didn't feel it very often, but I figured it out.

I felt guilty.

* * *

><p><strong>Bakura:<strong> Good, he should feel guilty.

**Kayla:** Agreed.

**Marik:** Also agreed. AG, the reviews?

**AGKamon: **I know, I know!

**_sorecess of the nile - _**Yeah, I like the normal Marik, but Yami Marik creeps the heck outta me. I don't really like Kaiba either, his ego is way too big. An ego that big should be bad for the atmosphere...

**_katz341 - _**Yay~! I'm still doing an 'awesmazing' job with Dark/Yami Marik! Yes...I tend to do that whenever I write a villain that opposes my OC, they always end up doing something like biting them, or acting like a sadist, or something that would make you think they're gonna do something perverted. Anyway, I like making Bakura protective. I think he would be if he had someone he cared about, and I do plan on making Kayla meet Ryou. Remember, they actually haven't even met yet, it'll probably happen during that time where it took Bakura longer to get out of the Shadow Realm after Battle City.

I liked the Hoenn seasons of Pokemon (I love Contestshipping, May/Drew!), but I didn't understand why people hated the Sinnoh region seasons; I liked them. Yeah, don't watch the Pokemon Black/White anime...just don't. Also, I already read the new chapter of Exercise. I laughed, at the authoress' notes, and the overly-dramatic mini-speech Bakura made when he shot Kristy with the laser tag...gun...thing.

I'm glad to encourage people! *Kayla and I are also laughing with you, Kristy, and Marik* Bakura! Don't kill her, she's an awesome reviewer! *Bakura: Fine, only because she's a reviewer, and more reviews means more updates.*

Also, I got the following suggestions for the Kayla/Bakura shipping name:

**Darkshipping** - suggested by sorecess of the nile - unfortunately **is taken** by the pairing of Yami Bakura/Yami Yugi (darn you yaoi...)

**Kayshipping** - suggested by katz341 (reasoning: Kay as in the beginning of KAYla, and both their names have the letter 'k' in them) - **not taken**

**Blackshipping** - suggested by katz341 (reasoning: Black as in BLACKmail, the blackmail incident in the beginning of the story is how Kayla and Bakura really met) - is also **taken** by (I think) the pairing of Kotone/Leaf from Pokemon

**Blackmailshipping** - suggested by me, inspired by Blackshipping from katz341 (reasoning: Again, the blackmail incident: 'I'm gonna tell the Pharaoh if you don't let me hang out with you!') - **not taken**

**Spyshipping **- suggested by katz341 - **taken** by either the pairing of Annie/Oakley or Oakley/Ash all from Pokemon

So the available choices are Kayshipping and Blackmailshipping. Personally, I'm leaning toward Blackmailshipping, but I like hearing my reviewers' opinions! Also, what did you guys think about my songfic series idea (using songs from Cascada's new album Original Me that has the song Pyromania on it)? Uh, I think that's everything.

**Marik:** Who wants to sign out?

**Bakura:** *yawns* No.

**Kayla:** I don't wanna!

**Marik:** Not me either.

**AGKamon:** ...Lazy... Read and review my friends! I go to camp this Monday so I have to survive a week without a computer... *collapses on random couch* It's gonna be horrible...


	12. Tired

**AGKamon:** Alright, another chapter is here!

**Kayla:** ...I'm really emotional here, but then again, I hated all those- *gets mouth covered*

**AGKamon: ***covers her mouth* Be quiet, you almost revealed a major detail of the chapter!

**Marik:** So, Bakura, which one of us is going to do the disclaimer while the girls are busy?

**Bakura:** She already gave me the other job...

**Marik:** I wanted to do that...ah well. AGKamon doesn't own me, Bakura, or anything else related to Yu-Gi-Oh! She only owns Kayla Kossori, her OC. What was the news AG wanted you to share?

**Bakura:** AG wrote a one-shot that accompanies this story, called A Pyromaniac's Past. It's also her first one-shot, as well as her first songfic. This reveals a lot more about Kayla's past, how she was diagnosed, how she found us, you know, that kind of information. She wants all of you to read it too.

**Marik:** Oh yeah! But I do suggest reading this chapter first, some past experiences will be a bit confusing without knowing the information from Kayla's dream-memory in the chapter. Start the story!

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

"_Don't worry honey, Ms. Henderson will be here a little while after we leave," my mother comforted, gently wiping a few tears away from my eyes. It was February 8, my seventh birthday, and my parents were once again heading out to work tonight. Then again, who knows if they really worked?_

"_No, I don't like her!" I protested. The truth was that Ms. Henderson, my babysitter, was supposed to arrive a few minutes after Mom and Dad left, but she never did. The woman came around about thirty minutes before my parents were due home, just so she could collect her payment. I was called a liar whenever I said something about it; this was because Ms. Henderson was the twenty-one year old daughter of my father's boss, if she was fired from her 'job' of watching me, then my dad's boss would fire him. Once again, everything eventually revolved back to the subject of money; I knew that even at the age of seven._

"_Stop it, Kayla. Ms. Henderson is a nice young woman," my father scolded. I huffed angrily and crossed my arms, turning my head away from them childishly; I heard my mother sigh. It wasn't surprising that she was probably getting tired of this, as it happened every night when they left._

"_Well, alright then. We'll see you in a few hours." I shakily turned my head to face forward again just as the door slammed closed, the 'click' that signaled the door was locked sounded strangely final. As if they were permanently locking me away._

"…_Mommy? Daddy…?" I whimpered. A chill descended over me, causing small bumps to settle on my skin. The air was completely silent; I couldn't even hear myself breathing or my heartbeat, but I still knew that both of them had sped up dramatically._

"_No!" I cried, rushing to the door and pounding on it with my small fists. I knew by now that the neighbors wouldn't bother coming to check on me because I did this sort of thing every time my parents left. My fears bubbled up inside me until they burst out in the form of tears cascading down my pale cheeks. Sliding down to my knees in defeat, I rested my forehead against the cold wood of the door, slight shivers fluttered through my system every few seconds while my tears continued to fall in small streams._

"_I don't wanna be lonely anymore…" My whispered words sounded like shouts in the noiseless house. There were no animals outside making noise, no children or people, nothing. The world felt so big around me, but it was so quiet that it felt like I was the only one left. I had tried imagining up friends, but they always left me, just like everyone else did. What was wrong with me? Why didn't anyone want to be my friend? _

_I took in a shaky breath and let it out again in an attempt to calm myself. I didn't want to shout for them every time they left, but I couldn't help it. It was instinctive for me._

"_Mommy! Daddy!" It sounded absolutely heart-wrenching to me, so why didn't anyone ever come to see if I was alright? Why didn't anyone seem to care?_

"_**Kayla?" **_

_My small blue-haired head jerked up at the sound of the voice, and I tilted it to the side in an attempt to hear better, some of my hair falling away from my ear in the process. I could still feel the teardrops falling uncontrollably from my eyes._

"_**Kayla, wake up."**_

_It sounded so familiar, but no one talked to me. Who would want to? After all, there must be something wrong with me if no one seemed to want me around. Even my parents took every chance they could get to go out to work, meetings, or some other important happening._

"_**Come on, Kayla." **_

"_Who is that?" I wondered. I felt like their - wait, the voice was masculine so it would be 'his' - his name was on the tip of my tongue, and yet, I was completely unable to place it. There was a very slight British accent, and his voice sounded rough, as if he'd never used a tender tone of voice in his life. However, I could hear a sense of worry in the tone he was currently using._

"_**It's me, Bakura."**_

_I gasped._

"_Bakura! That's it!" I realized. Suddenly, the scenery around me began to fade away to dark nothingness, and I fearfully stayed where I was while wondering what was going to appear to torment me next._

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I sighed as I kneeled beside her. She'd fallen unconscious when we arrived here in the Shadow Realm, and I'd soon recognized the signs of her having another one of her nightmares. Her body would shake slightly, and her lips would move but no sound would come out; I could see barely see tears beginning to form on her eyelashes.

_I wonder how long this has happening to her…_

"Mom…my…Dad…dy…" The fragmented words caught my attention as it was rare when she actually spoke in her sleep. I settled myself on the cold, dark-purple ground and carefully gathered her into my arms. Her chin set itself in the crook between my neck and shoulder; the unfamiliar sensation of droplets falling onto the exposed skin chilled me inside.

_Is she…crying…?_

"Kayla?" I whispered, hoping that she'd hear me and awake from her slumber. It was now that I wondered whether I would ever be able to place the reasons for me falling for her. She was a regular-looking and seeming girl on the surface; there was no reason that she should have attracted my attention in the way that she had.

"Kayla, wake up."

_I know I have deep feelings for her, but why?_

"Come on, Kayla." The cold water droplets continuing to drip onto my skin distracted me from my thoughts.

"It's me, Bakura." Moments later, I felt was seemed to be hair brushing repetitively against my neck.

"…Bakura…?" she asked quietly, her head slightly lifting itself from my neck.

"Mhm, are you alright?" I questioned in return.

"…I…uh, I think so…is this the…?"

"Shadow Realm? Yes." She buried her face in the crook of my neck again and clutched my shirt tightly with her hands.

"Why Bakura? Why do I have to keep reliving it…?" Her voice was hoarse and small-sounding. I didn't have an answer for her; how could I when I was still attempting to put my past traumas behind me?

_Kul Edna…_

"I can't answer that for you; I still have my own past experiences that haunt me. However, those same experiences made you who you are today; they were obviously painful for you, but Marik and I think you're fine right now. None of us would've met if you hadn't run off like you did, just know that," I explained.

"…Makes sense, but I'm tired of watching myself cry and scream every night when my parents left me alone. Tired of feeling the tiny sliver of hope that bloomed inside me, waiting for my babysitter to arrive when she only came around shortly before my parents were due back so she could get paid. Tired of feeling the loneliness when I didn't have you and Marik to talk to. I'm tired of it all, I don't want to see any of it anymore."

_She really is more tormented and in more pain than she reveals, only in these times of weakness can anyone see her true self. It makes me wonder why I was the first to see her like this…_

"I've tried so hard to put it all behind me. Cutting off all contact with anyone I ever knew, disowning my own parents…I did everything I could do to bury it all, but these memories keep dragging me back under. I need to be able to move on, but my brain won't let me; it seems determined to drown me in my own pain." The water droplets' speed of falling increased ten-fold, and I sat her up straight to look at her face. Silently, small streams of tears poured from her eyes and trailed down her flushed cheeks, dripping from her chin. She didn't even seem to notice, as if she were used to it by now.

"I just want to forget it all, Bakura…" Her tone sounded pitiful in my ears.

_She's running in a race she'll never win. The past will continue to chase her, and she'll continue to run away; her past will always win._ _The mask she wore in front of everyone is starting to crumble, but she never wore that mask around me. She never felt the need to hide her true self from me since we boarded that blimp. _I gently wiped away a tears flowing down her cheek, but it was quickly replaced by two more. She bowed her head, most likely ashamed at how she couldn't stop herself from crying.

"Let it out…" I said quietly. Her body shook as she actually began to sob; I brought her into an embrace, her forehead resting on my chest. I felt sorry for her; I didn't want to pity her, but she was rapidly falling apart in front of me. Normally, anyone who showed this amount of emotion, showed any sign of tears, would be considered weak in my eyes; however, I knew what she felt like. I still woke up some nights in a cold sweat with flashes of everyone I ever cared about, my friends and family, burning up in flames and being melted down into the golden substance that would eventually form the Millennium Items. I never knew that I would be bound to one of same Items, the Millennium Ring, years later.

The sound of sobs filled the silent air, sounding louder than it should've. Honestly, I've never heard someone cry so quietly in all my years of living, but she still sounded loud in the quiet air. I hugged her closer to me; suddenly, the sound of footsteps separated themselves from the cries of the distraught girl I was holding.

"Who's there?" I questioned.

"Bakura, is that you?" I quickly recognized the voice as the Marik I'd left behind here.

"M-Marik?" Kayla stuttered. She sounded tired, as if she were drained of all her energy.

"Ah Kayla! You're here!" Marik rushed over to me and kneeled down beside me, a worried expression covered his features.

"Good to see you haven't been fed to the Shadows yet, Marik," I greeted.

"Yeah…Kayla, are you alright?"

"I'll…be fine. My two best friends are here, right? I'm just a bit shaken up, I think; who wouldn't be after dealing with Dark Marik?" she replied, her tone was lightening.

_Either she simply needed to cry out the tears she kept in, or she's not comfortable enough around Marik to tell him the truth about her past yet…_

"That's good. What are you two doing here? I thought Bakura was going to save you."

"He did! I'm not around Dark Marik anymore, huh?" Marik raised an eyebrow at her defensive answer.

_She's protective over me; she just tried to defend me from Marik's indirect insult._

"I had no choice but to bargain with the monster for her. In exchange for her being able to come with me - we had to come back here, giving him more power in the process," I clarified.

"I see; he's a manipulative, sadistic psychopath, it doesn't surprise me that he'd have you do something like that."

"…Answer something for me, you guys…"

"Anything," Marik replied, and I nodded in agreement.

"Why wouldn't the Pharaoh protect me? I thought he protected the people who needed it, but he turned me away and left me to get captured by Dark Marik."

_She was turned away by the Pharaoh…?_

"Well, that gives me another reason to hate the Pharaoh…" I sighed, adding 'not protecting Kayla' to my mental list of reasons why I hate the Pharaoh.

"Yeah! I'm gonna' kill him when we get out of here, even if it is him who saves us!" Marik declared. A smile broke out on her lips, followed by a soft laugh.

_She changes moods so quickly…_

"No matter if you try to or not, the both of you always know how to cheer me up!"

"But I'm serious," Marik said.

"As am I."

"Even so, it's nice to know that you two have my back. It's a comforting feeling."

"Why? Didn't your-" Marik started before I cut him off.

"Don't bring it up, Marik. It's not a good idea, just leave it be."

"Huh? Alright then."

_I really am serious; the Pharaoh's going to regret turning his back on her. She may have lied about her identity, but her fear was real. Even he should've been able to realize that._

"Huh…?" A gasp left her lips, and my eyes widened.

"Bakura, what's going on?" Marik asked, his voice was breathless with shock.

"I…I really don't know."

"Help me!" I was forced to watch with Marik as she slowly faded away, only to be replaced with the black and purple scenery that belonged here. Tendrils of black smoke rose from the ground ominously; my instincts were on overdrive by now..

_I just got her back…what happened?_

"Bakura…"

"What is it, Marik?"

"I don't know what just happened, but I know who has something to do with it." The idea appeared in my mind as soon as the words left the Egyptian's mouth.

"Dark Marik." The name left our lips simultaneously, and a feeling coursed through my veins. A feeling that I'd never felt until I met her; I was scared through and through of what he'd do to her.

_I should've known he'd do something like this…_

"What is he…huh?" Marik's sudden words brought me back from my daze.

"What? Why are you…?" I started, stunned at seeing him disappearing as well. Starting at his feet and moving upward, the darkness seemed to devour him. Marik's surprised expression slowly turned into a smile.

"Don't worry Bakura, I'll try to protect her!" he reassured just before the remainder of his head vanished. Even with his confident tone, I couldn't help but feel that something here was very wrong. That's when I felt it. A stinging pain ran through my body, and it seemed as though ice had filled my veins. I felt frozen in place, but I managed to bring my hand up in front of my eyes.

It wasn't there.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> So what's Dark Marik doing this time? I kind of had a hard time with the middle of this chapter, but I think it turned out alright. Also, Blackmailshipping is now the name of the Bakura/Kayla Kossori pairing!

**Marik:** I hope the Pharaoh gets his punishment.

**Bakura:** *nods in agreement* AG, the reviews?

**AGKamon:** I know by now, you don't have to remind me!

**_Serenity Williams - _**I'm glad you liked the first chapter; it's an interesting way to start a story, isn't it?

**_Serenity Williams (2) - _**Kayla is crazy (then again, who isn't on some degree?), but it does make her a fun character to write. And yes, if you haven't noticed by now, this is a Bakura/OC story. And thanks for putting Neutral on your favorite story and story alert lists, as well as putting me on your favorite author and author alert lists. Also, you're working the Kayla Kossori fanart, right? I immensely thank you for that! (For those who're curious, can I put a link to it on my profile?)

**_sorecess of the nile - _**Yeah, Yami was conflicted. Should he risk his friends' safety and protect Kayla? Or should he take the safer road and turn Kayla away, but risk him being wrong about her - leaving her to get captured? He should've picked the first one, but Bakura wouldn't have gotten his chance then! Yes, I do not like yaoi. I have nothing against two guys being together, but I don't see the appeal of it. Same with yuri. Plus, yaoi takes all the good shipping names...

**Bakura:** Great, remember to read the oneshot/songfic A Pyromaniac's Past.

**Kayla:** I feel depressed after reading that... *sighs*

**Marik:** Read and review! *nudges Bakura suggestively with his elbow*

**Bakura:** *rolls his eyes, but still walks over and hugs Kayla*

**AGKamon: **Yay for Blackmailshipping! I look forward to your reviews, my friends!


	13. Shadow Games

**AGKamon:** Hey, here comes chapter thirteen!

**Bakura:** ...This isn't your best chapter, AG...

**AGKamon:** I know that! Anyway, this chapter probably isn't very good because it involves a very long duel. Writing duels isn't something I excel at. But anyway, readers, I'm kind of disappointed. Only one person actually reviewed chapter twelve, reviews make me write even faster than I usually do. I'll reply to the reviews I got anyway... *sigh*

**Marik:** Oh great, she depressed herself. Uh, AG, why don't you talk about you new idea or something...?

**AGKamon:** ...I feel like sulking. I'll do it after I reply to the reviews...

**Bakura:** Once again, I wonder why I agreed to be here.

**Kayla:** *glomps Bakura, knocking him over in the process* It's because I'm here~!

**Bakura:**...I'm not going to deny that, nor will I say yes to it.

**Marik:** AGKamon doesn't own me, Bakura, or anything else related to Yu-Gi-Oh! She only owns Kayla.

* * *

><p><span>Yami's P.O.V.<span>

"Yami!" I turned my head, expecting to see Yugi floating beside me in spirit form, but to my surprise, he was solid and cuffed to a wall of shadows. The chilling laugh belonging to Marik's dark half filled the air.

"Marik, what did you do?" I questioned.

"Why, I simply made this little game of ours into a Shadow Game. Don't worry, my sacrifice should be arriving shortly." As soon as the words left his lips, a form began to materialize next to him. Starting at the feet and moving upward, I didn't even notice the two other forms that appeared on Dark Marik's other side.

"No…" I breathed at seeing the familiar blue-haired girl I'd turned away.

"What's going on here, you monster?" another angered voice grabbed my attention. My eyes widened at seeing the two other figures: Marik's lighter side and Bakura's darker side.

"Hey! Ain't that Mona, Bakura's girl? What's she doin' here?" Joey shouted. I shook my head, momentarily stunned at their reappearances.

"No Joey, she lied to us about her identity. She's with Marik and the dark Bakura," I replied. The murmuring behind me was ignored completely.

"You pathetic sadist, I thought we made a deal! Leave her out of this!" Bakura protested, pulling at his chain-like cuffs in an attempt to most likely strangle Dark Marik. That very same Egyptian clicked his tongue in disapproval and leaned slightly forward to look at Bakura, who was past the lighter Marik - farthest away from Kayla.

_He probably set them up that way on purpose._

"I don't think I will; she's my sacrifice for this Shadow Game."

"How does this Shadow Game work, Marik?" I asked warily.

"Oh you'll see. You'll see, Pharaoh, but shall we begin this duel?"

"Fine."

"I'll go first then. I summon Vampiric Leech in attack; now I activate it's effect to attack you directly!" Seconds after my life points decreased, a cry of pain sounded itself from above my head; I looked up just in time to witness a portion of Yugi's leg disappearing.

"Yugi!"

**- Yami: 3500 Life Points - Dark Marik: 4000 Life Points -**

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

_So the sacrifice of the duelist loses a piece of their body to the shadows that equals the amount of life points the duelist lost. Well then, I happen to know a way to redirect that penalty to myself… The pain will be worth her being spared._ I glanced down at the Millennium Ring hanging from my neck; I could feel the power inside it increasing with the passion flowing through my veins. If I wasn't chained here, then I'd be down there strangling Dark Marik.

_I just need to be able to intervene in this Shadow Game…_

"Now I'll activate Vampiric Leech's second effect. By discarding one card, I can shift my Leech into defense mode. I set a card facedown and end my turn." I watched as the Pharaoh held a short conversation with his host before he drew his card.

_He'll be reluctant about attacking, even if he did turn Kayla away that first time. I need to convince him that she won't be hurt without revealing my plan to Dark Marik._

* * *

><p><span>Yami's P.O.V.<span>

"I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode. Now, Queen's Knight, attack his Vampiric Leech! I'll place one card facedown to end my turn."

_So that's the cost of this Shadow Game… _I cast a glance at the small girl hanging from her cuffs worriedly; she didn't look to be in the best shape. This fact alone made me reluctant to attack because I knew what it would cost her, but I couldn't allow Marik's dark side to win either. Once again, this girl had me conflicted. I looked at the other two who were held captive.

The real Marik was glaring venomously at his darker, obviously wishing he was free. Bakura was watching me but not in a threatening way; however, it seemed as though he was planning something.

_What is he planning? What could he be planning from his position?_

"My turn then. I summon Juragedo, now attack his Queen's Knight! I'll set two facedown cards to end my turn."

"Yugi?" I said, looking up at my host. He seemed tense, and now part of his arm was missing.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. What matters is defeating Marik," he reassured. I nodded and drew my card.

**- Yami: 3300 Life Points - Dark Marik: 4000 Life Points -**

"I activate one of my traps, Left Arm Offering! This allows me to discard my entire hand in order to pick one spell card out of my deck and add it to my hand," Marik said, before I could even make a move.

_I have a sinking feeling that he played that card in order to find Monster Reborn, meaning that he probably has the Winged Dragon of Ra in his graveyard now. I have to get rid of Monster Reborn somehow before he can use it; I still have my facedown!_

"Well, then I activate my spell card Exchange, allowing me to take one card from your hand and you to take one card from mine." We walked over to meet in the center of the playing field; I obviously took Monster Reborn. I noted that De-Fusion was missing from my hand afterward.

"Now I activate Monster Reborn to resurrect my Queen's Knight from the graveyard! I'll also summon King's Knight and activate his ability so I can summon Jack's Knight as well. I end my turn there."

"Alright then, Pharaoh. I set one card facedown, and I'll activate my spell card, Card of Sanctity. Now we can both draw cards until we have six in our hands; I think I'll also switch my Juragedo into defense mode. Your move."

"I sacrifice my three Knights in order to bring forth Slifer the Sky Dragon! It's attack points raise to 6000 due to the fact that I have six cards in my cards, multiplied by 1000. Now Slifer, attack his Juragedo!"

"Fine then, I activate Dark Spell Regeneration! Pharaoh, since you attacked me, I can use this card to activate any spell in either of our graveyards. Including my choice, Monster Reborn. I use Monster Reborn to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

"Oh no!" I cried, and my eyes widened at seeing it in its Phoenix Mode. That was the effect Marik used in his duel with Joey.

"Even if your Egyptian God is on the field, it will soon leave because of Silfer's second mouth ability that will destroy Ra!"

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I watched as the three spheres of energy raced toward the Winged Dragon of Ra, but the monster didn't vanish, nothing happened.

"Sorry Pharaoh, but I'm afraid that the Winged Dragon of Ra will not be destroyed by your worthless ability. Now, I'll pay 1000 life points to activate Ra's effect, destroying all your Slifer the Sky Dragon," Dark Marik explained, and I braced myself.

_I can't let her get hurt anymore…_ The first thought was that the pain reminded me of was a burn, except two times worse, but I didn't make a sound besides the small growl that rumbled in my throat.

"What…? But how?" Dark Marik shouted, looking at Kayla, obviously expecting part of her to disappear any second.

"Bakura, what are you doing?" the real Marik whispered to me. I grinned.

"What does it look like? Keeping someone close to me safe; she's been hurt too many times by him," I replied, smirking in victory when the insane Egyptian finally noticed who really took the penalty.

"Well, well, well, I shouldn't be so surprised, Bakura. After all, you've been the one protecting the girl this whole time."

"Did you really think I'd let you hurt her again? I promised myself that I wouldn't allow you to hurt her anymore; you've done enough to her."

"Bakura, what are you doing? Stop being an idiot!" she exclaimed. Her midnight-blue eyes held a mixture of fear and anger; I didn't care if either of those were directed at me, she's been hurt enough.

"Be thankful, I'm keeping you safe."

"B-but you shouldn't hurt yourself because of me."

"Trust me, darling, I've lived through worse."

_There I go again with calling her 'darling'. Why do I keep doing that?_

"If you insist…" I heard her sigh, and from my position, I could see the Pharaoh mouth something with an awed expression. Did he really think that I didn't have the capacity to show emotions, or even have them? Emotions are exploitable; that's why I'd never normally show them, but everything changed for me if Kayla was involved. It didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was keeping her as safe as possible.

"On with the duel then Pharaoh, I'm afraid my sacrifice has a substitute. The Winged Dragon of Ra will return to my graveyard, as it was special summoned. I now activate Zombie's Jewel, allowing me to take Monster Reborn from your graveyard and add it to my hand. You should feel lucky, Pharaoh, this gives you a chance to draw a card. Perhaps it will be the card you've been hoping for, the one Kaiba gave you before this duel started." Eventually, the Pharaoh did draw a card. Without looking at it, he placed it facedown.

_It's just like the Pharaoh to play a move such as that; he's trying to prove that 'heart of the cards' trash to everyone._

"I end my turn; it's your move Marik." I watched as the real Marik grit his teeth.

"I'm assuming you don't enjoy your name being used as the name of your dark side," I said to him.

"You got that right. He sickens me; he shouldn't have the privilege of using my name." I chuckled.

_It's amazing how even in the situation we're in, Marik will always act as he does._

"Fine, I activate Monster Reborn to, of course, bring back my Winged Dragon of Ra. This time, Monster Reborn will go to my graveyard. Now I will pay all of my life points but one to fuse myself with Ra and strengthen it!" I prepared for the pain again, but it never came.

_He did sacrifice most of his own body to fuse with Ra; perhaps the penalty doesn't affect me in this case…_

"I'll also tribute my Juragedo to raise the attack points of Ra even further, giving it a total of 4699 attack points! Now, Ra, attack the Pharaoh directly!"

"Not so fast Marik, I activate my facedown, Fiend Sanctuary! I can now summon a Metal Fiend Token onto my field; this monster becomes a mirror, meaning that if you attack it, you'll damage your own life points instead."

_It's not over yet, Dark Marik has a plan. He always does. _I wasn't surprised when he reappeared on the ground, his body whole again.

"But how?" the Pharaoh questioned.

"Why, it's simple Pharaoh. I used the De-Fusion that I got from you earlier when you used your Exchange card. Ra's attack points are also added back to my life points, giving my 4700 of them! Unfortunately, Ra must return to my graveyard." The portion of my arm that had previously vanished suddenly reappeared in its rightful place.

_Interesting…the sacrifice gains their lost body parts back if the duelist's life points are increased._

"I'll place one card facedown to end my turn. Now, Pharaoh, your Metal Fiend Token may be a good defense, but it comes with a cost, doesn't it? A cost that will send more of your friend's body to the Shadow Realm!" The Pharaoh was obviously unnerved by the idea of hurting his host, but the smaller boy convinced him that he'd be fine. So the Pharaoh accepted the drop in life points.

"I pay 1000 life points so my Metal Fiend Token can remain on the field, and now I activate the card Multiply! This gives me two more Fiend Tokens, three in all!"

**- Yami: 2300 Life Points - Dark Marik: 4700 Life Points -**

_Three monsters, he must be planning to summon his other Egyptian God._

"Now I tribute my three Tokens to summon Obelisk the Tormentor! Now, Obelisk, attack Marik directly!" As the large, blue fist belonging to the Pharaoh's Egyptian God came toward us, I braced myself for the damage I suspected I was going to take. However, the idea that Dark Marik was finally going to get hit was a comforting thought to me.

The pain hit me all at once in a single blow, sending the both the feeling of being burned and a stinging sensation running through my body.

"Are you alright, Bakura?" the real Marik asked. A smirk split my lips, and I looked at him to reply.

"As I've said before, I've faced worse. I must look really pathetic, right?"

"Sacrificing yourself to protect someone you care about? Pathetic? No, not at all! In fact, that's really honorable. From what I've heard, it's hard for anyone to find someone who cares about them that much," he replied.

_He's not as nearly as bad as what I first thought; although, he's still annoying at times. It's still difficult for me to able to stand being around a mortal for so long. Kayla and Marik are the only two who've been able to accomplish such a feat._

"That's a nice thought, but I meant that literally. There's a lot of me missing, am I right?"

"Pretty much." The sound of a dark laugh distracted us, and we looked down to see Dark Marik's next move.

"Well Pharaoh, it's impressive that you've been able to decrease my life points so much. However, remember it's him who takes the fall, not me." I frowned.

_There's no reason to worry about me; I can take pain. It would've been unbearable for me to see Kayla hurt again; that's why I specifically redirected the penalty to me._

"Even so, you activated my facedown card with your attack. It's both a trap and a monster, I activate Metal Reflect Slime! It transforms into the monster the previously attacked me, and it's defense points become three-fourths of the attacking monster's attack points. This gives my Metal Reflect Slime the form of Obelisk the Tormentor and 3000 defense points!"

"I end my turn, Marik."

"Well then, I believe you'll recognize this monster of mine. I summon Revival Jam. Now I activate Polymerization to fuse my Metal Reflect Slime and Revival Jam to form Egyptian God Slime! Your move, Pharaoh."

_What's he planning by fusing those two monsters together?_

"I summon Big Shield Gardna in defense mode. Obelisk, attack his Egyptian God Slime!"

"Nice try, but like Revival Jam, Egyptian God Slime is revived from the graveyard when it's destroyed."

"Fine then, your turn."

"I set one card facedown, and I'll summon Bowganian in defense mode. Go ahead, Pharaoh."

"Alright then, I'll also set a card facedown. I tribute my Big Shield Gardna to summon the Dark Magician Girl, now Dark Magician Girl, attack his Bowganian!"

"Sorry, Pharaoh, but I activate Jam Defender, allowing my Egyptian God Slime to be the target of your attacks instead. Therefore, you lose 1000 life points because your attack failed."

"…I end my turn."

"Then I'll activate Bowganian's effect, which deals 300 points of damage to you."

**- Yami: 1000 Life Points - Dark Marik: 700 Life Points - **

"Now, my turn. I activate the spell card Mining for Magical Stones. This lets my discard two cards, and in return, I can add one spell card in my graveyard to my hand. I would expect that you know by now that it's Monster Reborn."

_I should've known that he would've found another way to get that card back in his hand…_

"I'll place one facedown card and summon the monster Swallowtail Spike Lizard in defense mode. Pharaoh, it's your turn again."

"I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts to the field in defense, and then I'll set two cards facedown. That marks the end of my turn."

"Of course, Bowganian's effect activates again, and you lose 300 more life points."

_Well, Dark Marik's going to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra once more. I do wonder how the Pharaoh's going to fend it off this time._

"First, Swallowtail Spike Lizard's effect activates, giving me an additional 1000 life points. Next, I'll use Monster Reborn to once again bring back my Winged Dragon of Ra! I'll pay 1000 life points to activate Ra's ability to destroy all of your monsters."

"Or perhaps not, I activate my own Monster Reborn to resurrect Slifer the Sky Dragon, allowing it to be destroyed instead of all my monsters!"

"…Fine then, since Ra was special summoned, it once again returns to my graveyard. However, I activate Surprise Attack from Beyond, allowing me to bring Ra back to my field! Once again, I'll pay all but one of my life points to strengthen Ra and to fuse myself with the beast."

"But now I'll activate Soul Taker! This allows you to gain 1000 life points, but it allows me to use one of your monsters as a tribute; I choose your Egyptian God Slime! I can now activate Obelisk's ability, which will destroy all your monsters and deal 4000 points of damage to you!"

"I sacrifice my Bowganian and my Swallowtail Spike Lizard to increase Ra's attack points again, and I also remove all but one of my life points to increase its attack once more. Now I activate Class System! Since Obelisk the Tormentor's level is the same as Ra's, the ability of Obelisk is negated. Winged Dragon of Ra, attack now!"

"Not so fast, Marik! I activate Magical Dimension (DM), and since I have Dark Magician Girl on my field, I can sacrifice Obelisk the Tormentor and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts to summon my Dark Magician! And now, I activate the spell Ragnarok! Because I have Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on my field; I can remove all the monsters in my hand, deck, and graveyard from play to destroy your Winged Dragon of Ra." I glanced at Dark Marik's surprised expression.

_Does he have a plan for this, or was he caught completely off-guard?_ All of a sudden, every one of the Pharaoh's monsters materialized and floated above him. They all combined their attacks, and the mighty Winged Dragon of Ra was gone, along with the large portion of Dark Marik that was fused to it.

**- Yami: 700 Life Points - Dark Marik: 1 Life Point -**

"Master Marik!"

"…Odion?" I heard the real Marik whisper in response to hearing the voice. His eyes widened he saw the tall, tanned man stumble out of the elevator. He seemed familiar to me, I knew he was the man who had been the decoy Marik, but I never actually knew who he was.

"Master Marik, you have to regain control over your body!" the man said, leaning on one of the railings for support.

"But…"

"Marik, you have to. Who else is going to? Besides, you want your body back, don't you?" I persuaded.

"Yeah…"

"He's weakened now, take your chance Marik and get your body back!" Kayla shouted. I smirked in amusement at how impatient she sounded.

"You're all right, I have to try." I watched as Marik concentrated on switching places with his darker half. Then, suddenly, in a flash of purple light, I realized the person hanging next to me was no longer whole. That it was the Dark Marik; I glanced down, the real Marik was in his rightful place.

"_**Bakura…the Egyptian Gods have an important discussion that they need to hold with you right away." **_Zorc's voice suddenly rung through my mind.

"_Of all times, it had to be now?"_ I mentally questioned him.

"_**Yes. They're giving you time to warn one of your associates about your temporary departure, but hurry."**_

"_I'll try my best…"_

"I'm sorry, Pharaoh, for all that I've done. I hope that by surrendering this duel, I can partially redeem myself." With those words, Marik placed his hand over in his deck in forfeit, and a dark cloud briefly surrounded us to signify that the Shadow Game was ending. Dark Marik was really gone; obviously, I hadn't allowed myself to be sent to the Shadow Realm again. When the dark cloud descended, that's when I decided to warn Marik of my departure.

"Marik…" I called.

"Bakura? What is it?" his voice asked from behind me.

"The Egyptian Gods wish to hold a meeting about something, mostly likely its about myself or the Pharaoh, and they need me to be there."

"Yeah, what does that have to do with me?"

"That means I'll be gone for a while, and I'm asking if you'll keep an eye on Kayla until I get back."

"Of course, she's now a friend of mine. I was planning on sticking around anyway. When do you think you'll be back? Should I tell Kayla about it when she asks?"

"Go ahead and tell her, but I don't know when I'll return. These meetings have been known to last an extremely long time, so, at least a few months. …Ugh, Zorc is warning me that they're beginning to get impatient for my arrival. I have to go Marik, keep her safe in my stead."

"Of course!" That's when everything faded to light.

* * *

><p><strong>Bakura:<strong> So instead of me being mysterious stuck in the Shadow Realm, the Egyptian Gods wanted to speak with me. Well, it's an interesting concept, I'll give her that. AG, what about the next season where Marik and I don't appear, are you planning on doing anything with that?

**AGKamon:** I'll tell you after I reply to my reviews.

_**sorecess of the nile - **_I'm glad you like Kayla; it's a good thing I switched the story before I posted it to make Bakura be Kayla's love interest and not Marik. Imagine how that would've turned out. *Bakura in the background: Why even consider that option? Kayla likes me better anyway.* I tired to come up with a past that Bakura would relate to because I think he'd be a lot closer to someone he could understand. That's why he doesn't think Kayla's weak or pathetic for showing emotion when she does.

_**Serenity Williams - **_

**AGKamon:** More thanks go to .Fortune for putting A Pyromaniac's Past on their favorite list.

**Marik:** Not upset anymore?

**AGKamon:** Nah, I just hope I get more reviews this time, but once again, I'm sorry this chapter's kind of boring! I'm not very good at writing duels.

**Kayla:** Moving along, what was the news you wanted to share?

**AGKamon:** News...? Oh, right! I made a decision, I'm planning on making Neutral the first in a series. I think I'll call it the 'Taking Sides' series or something like that.

**AGKamon:** That is my plan and I'm not changing it, but if you have anything to say about my ideas put it in a review. Speaking of which, please read and review! The reviews always make me happy because they let me know that people are actually reading this and it's not being ignored.

**Marik:** So, the OC's name...? Are you going to tell me?

**AGKamon:** *considers it* I guess I could... *chapter ends*


	14. Meetings

**AGKamon:** Oh my gosh a really fast update~! I got an idea, and I had to type it. The ideas starting flowing, and then I got this; it's long enough to make a chapter. So I said, why not publish this?

**Kayla:** If you put that to some music, that could be a song. A really weird song, but a song nonetheless.

**AGKamon:** I know, I listen to way too much music. ...Disclaimer! *points randomly* ...Ryo, what are you doing here?

**Marik:** Oh, hey. What are you doing here, Ryo?

**Ryo:** I heard this chapter had me in it, and figured perhaps I should be a guest like you did with Yami.

**AGKamon:** How...can he be that cute, without trying?

**Kayla:** Darn Pharaoh...so annoying...thinks I'm a lair... *continues to mutter angrily*

**AGKamon:** Well...disclaimer, Ryo?

**Ryo:** Oh sure. AuraGuardianKamon18 doesn't own me, Bakura, Marik, or anything else related to Yu-Gi-Oh!, she only owns Kayla Kossori, her OC. Shall, uh, start the chapter?

**AGKamon:** Sure! But...where'd Bakura go?

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

My feet hit the arena floor so suddenly that I stumbled forward a few steps, but I quickly caught my balance before I fell. The dark cloud that was previously settled in the air was clearing the way for a bright blue sky; it seemed so long ago since I last saw it. I'd been mostly in the blimp, and the times I wasn't was during the few times I witnessed a Shadow Game. The shadowy cloud blocked the sky during the Shadow Game, and then I was sent to the Shadow Realm as well. Although, I was confused, where did Bakura go?

"Kayla, are you alright?" Marik asked, walking up to me. There was a worried look in his purple eyes; I looked up at him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess. Where's Bakura?" I questioned. My concern for the safety of the spirit of the Millennium Ring grew when the Egyptian's expression darkened.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you on the way back to Domino City, alright?"

"…Fine." Subconsciously, my eyes narrowed when I noticed the Pharaoh and his group of followers walking up to us; I noted that his eyes seemed to sadden when he saw me.

_I hope he feels guilty…_

"Pharaoh…" I growled, crossing my arms.

"…I am quite sorry for not believing you. I know it doesn't make a difference now, but I would like to make it up to you somehow."

"I'll try to think of something; there's only one thing on my mind now and it doesn't involve you."

"Alright, listen nerds, as the person who began the tournament, I suppose I should congratulate the winner. However, Yugi, you wouldn't have won if Marik hadn't surrendered," Kaiba suddenly said.

"I see he's still as egotistical as always," I muttered. For a reason I couldn't place, I felt oddly bitter and resentful. I had just been saved from Dark Marik's grasp again, and said psychopath was trapped in the Shadow Realm forever; so why was I feeling these out-of-place emotions? Then again, I never had liked the Pharaoh. He was just too much of a do-gooder for me, perhaps that was it; maybe I was holding a bit of a grudge against him too.

"Nice win, Yugi! According to the Battle City rules, you now get your opponent's rarest card," Kaiba's little brother said.

"That's right…" the Pharaoh noted.

"Well then, I assume it's obvious which of my cards you get. The Winged Dragon of Ra."

"Make sure he doesn't give you the fake one," the Pharaoh's blonde friend whispered. I sent glare his way as Marik handed the important card to the winner.

"Now, Pharaoh, it is finally time for me to complete my duty as a tomb-keeper and show you the Secret of the Pharaoh." Suddenly, Marik stripped himself of his shirt and turned around, revealing various marks tattooed across his back. I assumed that they were Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"I'll try to read it…" the Pharaoh mumbled, looking intensely at the markings. He seemed to recognize it.

"Also, all the victims who were banished to the Shadow Realm by my darker half have been freed," Marik said, turning to face the Pharaoh once more. It was then that I wondered where he'd put his shirt; he wasn't holding it, his sister didn't have it, neither did his brother, and it wasn't on the ground anywhere.

_That's strange. Where'd the shirt go…?_

"I believe these would be safer with you as well…" Marik added, handing the Millennium Rod to him and preparing to do the same with the Ring.

"Wait!" I interrupted, stopping the Egyptian in his tracks.

"What?"

"The Millennium Ring belongs to Bakura, what right do you have to give it away? Even if Bakura said you could give it to someone, don't you think he'd prefer me having it over him?" I explained, nodding my head toward the Pharaoh.

"Well…Pharaoh?"

"No, it's fine, Marik. Let her have the Ring," he replied. Reluctantly, Marik handed the Ring to me, and I put it around my neck. I suddenly felt a lot better; this thing did belong to Bakura, who wasn't here, I guess it was the next best thing to having him around.

"Thanks, Pharaoh, you're on the road to earning my forgiveness."

* * *

><p><span>Bakura's P.O.V.<span>

I blinked repeatedly to rid my vision of the spots of light that had appeared when the flash shone to signal that I was being transported to the home of the Egyptian Gods. Even though it was my fifth time being called here, I could never get used to that bright flash.

"Well, what do you need?" I asked irritably, thinking of many better things I could be doing with my precious time. The three figures sitting on the trio of thrones before me studied me and my most likely obvious impatience. It seemed as though the Egyptian Gods had decided to take on their human forms for this meeting.

"You really should be more respectful, thief," the figure sitting on the right scolded. His dull yellow eyes were narrowed in either annoyance or he was deep in thought, probably both. A set of red armor covered his body, and a blue helmet concealed his hair which I knew was bright red like his armor.

"Why, Slifer, don't you know that's not in my job description?" I taunted, waiting for the outburst to come from the figure on the far left.

"Shut your mouth!"

_There it is._ I smirked while turning my head to look at the man in blue armor, his red eyes were shining angrily like embers. A matching blue helmet was set on the marble floor, revealing his messy, short blue hair.

"Now, now, boys. Relax. Honestly, I swear these meetings always start out the same way," the third figure sighed, twirling a strand of golden-blonde hair with their index finger. This was the only female. Her ankle-length yellow dress shifted as she crossed her legs, one of her gold-colored heels glinted when the sunlight hit it, as did the sapphire-encrusted headband holding back her bangs. A pair of sky-blue eyes looked between Obelisk and I with a tired expression.

"Of course, Ra. What did you need me for?" I questioned. Obelisk was always fun to toy with, especially when I set off his nasty temper. My ears picked up a growl from the temperamental Egyptian Gods.

"I-"

"We," Slifer interrupted.

"Fine, **we** have noticed a sudden change in your behavior, it's for the better, but it's still curious."

"…So?"

"If you have changed, we wish to know."

"…It's personal, you don't need to know," I defended. The last thing I needed was the Egyptian Gods thinking I've gone soft, especially since it's for a mortal girl with nothing mythical about her.

_Well, there's her looks, but that certainly doesn't count..._

"Did the tough little thief find a girlfriend?" Obelisk mocked. Not wanting to make a scene, I simply crossed my arms and stared at one of the walls. The whispering among the three revealed they'd gotten an idea.

"If you tell us the truth, Bakura, it will have benefits," Ra suggested.

"What kind of benefits are we speaking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in suspicion.

"There are a few details we might have to work out, but at the current time, we can get you a body of your own," Slifer replied. My ears perked up at hearing those words, and I sighed.

"If you're really that desperate to know, then I'll agree to your terms. As long as I get my own body, and I have a few other deals I wish to discuss with the three of you as well. However, I shall tell why I've changed my behavior. For once, Obelisk actually did something right, it's all because of a girl." Ra leaned forward in interest, her eyes sparkling more than usual.

"So you really like this girl, huh? What's she like? Is she a mortal?" the golden Egyptian God questioned.

_So this is what it's like when a 'girl talk' occurs. You're pressed for answers until you give them up._

"I do. If you've been watching me like I know you have been, then you know what she's like. And yes, she is indeed a complete mortal."

"Then why'd she get your attention? Since when do you care about anyone besides yourself?" Slifer wondered, blunt as usual.

"I'm still attempting to figure out why, out of all the mortal females, she got my attention. She brings out the softer side of me that I never knew existed."

"Aw, that's so cute!" Ra gushed, clasped her hands together in glee. I raised an eyebrow and gave her a strange look.

"Oh no, here she goes again…" Obelisk sighed.

"Since she doesn't get any time to talk about anything 'feminine', she completely goes off the deep end whenever something comes up that peaks her interest," Slifer added.

"I'll help you in whatever way possible, Bakura. After your hard life, you need someone to be with. This is so sweet!" She jumped up from her seat and patted the top of my head.

_Oh dear Ra, what did I just get myself into?_

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

Marik shut the door behind him and turned to face me.

"Marik, tell me now, where is Bakura?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips and giving him a threatening look.

"Well, right after the duel ended and that dark cloud swallowed us momentarily, he told me where he was going. Supposedly, the Egyptian Gods were holding a meeting, and they needed him to be there. That's all I really know," Marik explained, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"…Do you know when he's coming back?"

"He wasn't completely sure, but at least a few months. However, I'm sticking around, so you won't be lonely, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" I sighed, sitting down in a chair that happened to be behind me. I pinched the bridge of my nose and felt my heart racing.

_He could've just told me, why did he give the message to Marik? I already feel lonelier._ My heart was racing, being around Bakura had given me comfort. My fears melted away at a quicker rate, and my urges were almost completely gone. I hadn't even noticed until now, but I haven't set anything on fire or set any bombs off since I blew up Marik's wallet.

_That seems like so long ago now. _It looked as though Marik was about to say something else to me when the door burst open and a blonde woman stepped in.

"Come on, we're abandoning the blimp. The engines are dead, and we have to take a helicopter," she warned, motioning for us to follow her lead. Even though I felt as if my entire body was numb, I forced myself to stand and run behind the two who were already out the door.

_Kaiba's such a sore loser, blowing up his own island when he doesn't win. Even so, I wonder how Bakura's doing with his meeting._ I took the empty seat by the window next to Marik when I finally boarded the crowded helicopter. Smoke and fire filled the air outside the copter when we took off, and I was thankful that we weren't down there. However, in the silence, my mind wandered back to thirty minutes ago.

* * *

><p><em>My nose caught the scent of food, and I, curious, peeked into the food storage room. A head of white hair grabbed my attention, and my breath caught in my throat. My eyes grew wide for a moment.<em>

_**Is that…Bakura?**_

"_Oh hello there, was there something you needed?" he asked, and at once, I knew that this boy must be the other half of Bakura that I'd heard so much about. His voice was too innocent, and his accent was too strong._

"_You're…Bakura's good half, right?" I inquired, walking up and sitting next to him. _

"_I guess you could call me that. Can I assume you're the young woman he's always thinking about lately? He's never mentioned your name though…" I could feel my face flush, since when did Bakura think about me so often? _

"_I-I guess. The name's Kayla by the way. How did you know Bakura thought about me?"_

"_He doesn't let me interfere at all, or listen to me, but we can usually see what the other is thinking. You've been on his mind a lot lately, he actually seems to care about you. Usually, he uses people and leaves them behind, but you're different."_

"_How so?"_

"_Many of his thoughts were about keeping you safe, or contemplating why you attracted his attention without even trying, or even how he thinks you're beautiful." _

"_Wha-what?" I stuttered, looking at the boy in shock. He'd set down the piece of food he was previously consuming to focus on his thoughts. _

"_Indeed, I remember him comparing you to a goddess multiple times. As well as considering how your current situations are similar, in a way. After all, I've seen some of what his past was like. It's no wonder why he's still haunted by thoughts of it. He constantly compares that to your nightmares, thinking how similar the two of you are, even though you hadn't met before Battle City. He really likes you, Kayla. I've never seen him think like this before, and he's been inhabiting my body for years now. I would know." He smiled softly at me while I considering his words._

"_Really…? Well, I've never really thought about it. I didn't have the life of a 'normal' teenager after all; I never had crushes or went on dates or giggled with a bunch of girls about some guy we thought was hot. But, Bakura is pretty amazing when I think about it. He's risked himself twice for me already and comforted me every time since he discovered my nightmares. I can tell that he doesn't do much of either one." The boy laughed lightly._

"_True, true. Before you came along, he thought about the Millennium Items and how to get rid of the Pharaoh, mostly. I haven't seen those thoughts enter his mind for a while, it seems like."_

"_Hey, Kayla! You around here?" a familiar voice I recognized as Marik's pierced our conversation. We both jumped at hearing the sudden shout._

"_Thanks Bakura-" I started._

"_Please, call me Ryo. Bakura's his name, right? We don't want anyone to be confused, now do we?"_

"_No, we don't. But, thanks Ryo." I stood and headed for the door to meet Marik. _

"_What are you thanking me for? All we did was talk!" The young British boy never got my answer because now my mind was set on one thing: getting Marik to tell me where Bakura disappeared to._

* * *

><p>I shook my head to clear my mind when someone tapped my shoulder.<p>

"What?" I questioned, turning my head to Ryo and Marik looking at me expectantly.

"You fell asleep," Ryo said.

"And we've landed in Domino City, come on," Marik added. Both of them smiled pleasantly at me as I walked past Marik to get off the helicopter; Marik seemed to be acting oddly nice.

_What did they talk about when I was asleep?_ The thought was discarded when Marik suddenly flung his arm around my neck, and Ryo suddenly appeared next to me.

"What the heck is wrong with you two? Especially you Marik, you're acting strange," I accused.

"I'm just happy my dark side's gone for good. Anyway, we have good news, I bet you're curious about it!"

"Unless you found out when Bakura's coming back, then no, I'm not curious. But, you're going to tell me anyway."

"Ishizu and Odion are going back to Egypt, and my sister left me her 3 bedroom apartment. We're living there now."

"And it's in my apartment building, so I can visit!" Ryo added.

"Great, can you get your arm off my neck now?"

"Dear Ra, what's your problem, Kayla? You've been acting really-"

"Depressed?" Ryo suggested.

"I was going to say bitter, but that works too. Either way, why?"

"It's…just…Bakura and I were really close. I'm kind of missing him, I guess." I stared at the sky in thought: why did him being gone bother me so much? I mean, Marik said it would be temporary, that Bakura would be coming back, right?

"Well, if that's it, I'm sure he'll be back in a few months. Now, let's go check out our new place!" Marik then grabbed my wrist and pulled in a random direction with Ryo following close behind us.

_Bakura, you better not have lied. You better be back in a few months like you said._

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Is Bakura going to return soon, and with a body of his own too? Also, the comment about Marik's shirt seeming to disappear actually happens. I was reviewing that episode, and Marik takes his shirt off. However, when he turns back around, the shirt is nowhere to be seen. So I was like 'where'd his shirt go?' Because that's the kind of things I notice. Also, I just made up the personalities and appearances of Ra, Silfer, and Obelisk - I can picture a human Obelisk having a temper for some reason.

**Bakura:** *walks in* I'm back...

**Kayla:** Yay, Bakura! *jumps at him, only to be caught*

**Bakura:** I know better by now, did you reply to the reviews yet, AG?

**AGKamon:** Doing it right now!

_**.Fortune - **_Yes, I would never injure one of my characters too badly. Don't worry, I have plans for Kayla's revenge on the Pharaoh, she won't forgive him without payback. And, I'm not going to say anything about Bakura's time of return. I'm keeping that as my little secret, I think you'll find out a little bit more sometime soon...the suspense is totally going to bother you, right? Anyway~! Is this a soon enough update for you?

_**Bloody Rabbit Alice - **_Okay, these were the reactions to your tackle hug *Kayla: Cool, hugs! -hugs you back- ~ Marik: Uh, alright...why not? -awkwardly pats you on the back- ~ Bakura: What the heck? -attempts running until Kayla walks over and hugs him too. Marik gives him a thumbs-up in the background while I face-palm-* Alas, I cannot write a character who is pure evil like Zorc. So instead, I made him decent to Bakura because Thief King Bakura is sort of the one who awoke Zorc in ancient Egypt. Therefore, Zorc owns Bakura. Au Revior...I love that song (is referring to a song by my favorite singer Cascada). Anyway...YAY~! Updates are great.

**AGKamon:** And thanks to VintageStardust for putting Neutral on their story alert list. Finally, I have some news. I think that sometime in the near future, I will end Neutral and start the second story of this little series I'm making. Why? Well, because Neutral takes place during the Battle City season, and it makes sense if it ends at the ending of that season. The second story will take place during the fourth season, Waking the Dragons because I'm totally going to be tweaking the story-line from that season to include Bakura (definitely Yami Bakura, maybe a little Ryo), Kayla (of course), and Marik (why would I leave him out?), plus my new mystery OC who's being paired up with Marik!

**Marik:** Alright! So, Ryo, are you planning on staying. Either way, you should sign out the chapter.

**Ryo:** I don't know...

**AGKamon:** But Ryo~! You should stay at least until the end of Neutral!

**Ryo:** Okay then. Read and review everyone!

**AGKamon:** Who's going to deny that cute little face *points at Ryo while he's not looking* reviews? Besides, aren't you curious about what's going to happen next?


	15. Epilogue

**AGKamon:** Another quick update, and guess what? I've decided, this is the epilogue. For the next chapter, you'll have to wait until I publish the first chapter of the next story in this series. It'll be out soon, I hope. I still have to write it, but my inspiration's been good to me so far - let's hope it stays that way.

**Marik:** Alright, finally we get to see things from my point of view! *cheers*

**AGKamon:** Sorry it's so short, but I think it builds up to the next story pretty well. And yes, I decided to attempt writing in Marik's point of view for once.

**Ryo:** I'm in this chapter too! I'll say the disclaimer if you don't mind AG.

**AGKamon:** *thinking something along the lines of how cute Ryo is* G-go ahead, Ryo.

**Ryo:** AGKamon doesn't own me, Marik, Bakura, or anything else related to Yu-Gi-Oh!. She only owns her OC, Kayla Kossori.

**Kayla:** Now let's start the epilogue~!

* * *

><p><span>Marik's P.O.V.<span>

Ryo crossed out yesterday's date on the calendar, and his expression saddened. A cough resounded through my empty apartment, showing that he was choking back tearing up again. Whenever he looked at the date, he had to do so; I'd stopped counting the days months ago.

It's been a year since Bakura went off to his meeting with the Egyptian Gods.

It's been six months since Kayla ran off for the second time in her life.

"I still can't believe she ran away like she did…" Ryo sighed, settling himself in an armchair and holding his head in his hands. I patted him on the shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look.

"I know, buddy. You have to think, though, she was really close to Bakura. By the fifth month, she was probably beginning to think that he'd abandoned her," I replied, remembering how she'd locked herself in her room for two days after she finally told us the truth about her childhood.

"But she wasn't lonely, at least one of us were with her almost all the time." Ryo leaned back in the chair, his eyes staring up at the white ceiling. I could see they were shining with tears that he refused to let fall; he had gotten close to Kayla in the sixth months they'd known each other. Ryo had told me that he thought of Kayla as a sister, as his actual sister had died years ago.

"Bakura was different to her, I guess. I can't answer for her, Ryo," I remarked. I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees as I fixed my lavender eyes on the new coffee table in front of me. The last one had been too feminine for my tastes, so I quickly sold it and bought this one to replace it. Suddenly, the door burst open, and my eyes widened upon seeing who was in the doorway.

"Thank Ra, you're back! We've got a problem!" I exclaimed, rushing over to the figure.

"But…how did you…?" Ryo stuttered, weakly gesturing to himself and the figure. They were identical.

"I made an agreement with the Egyptian Gods," Bakura replied simply. It was then that I noticed how Ryo was slightly shorter than Bakura, as was I.

"Long story, huh?" I asked. He nodded, sticking his hands in the pockets of the black over-shirt he was wearing, similar to the one he wore during Battle City. His red and gray striped shirt replaced the blue and white one he used to wear.

"So, where's Kayla?" I flinched at the question, and I knew Ryo did too; Bakura's brown eyes narrowed suspiciously at us.

"Six months ago, she…ran off. We've looked all over, but we can't find her," I answered.

"We really tried, but she-" Ryo started.

"Disappeared without a trace. Of course she did, she's used to running away and vanishing. After all, she's a spy, or at least, a former spy.," Bakura explained, sighing.

"So…?" I said expectantly.

"Gather up some supplies, we're going to look for her. The Egyptian Gods gave me some insight."

"You knew?" Ryo gasped.

"No, but I knew that something was wrong, and that she was involved in it."

* * *

><p><span>Kayla's P.O.V.<span>

I stumbled into the alley, panting lightly while I grasped the small wad of money in my right hand.

_Living on the streets is a lot harder than I remember…_

"Where'd that little brat go?" an angry male voice sounded from around the corner. I jumped and continued my sprint down the alley; I peered over my shoulder and let out a relieved breath.

"Thank goodness he's not there…" I sighed, slowing my steps. Suddenly, I ran into something…or...some**one**.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried, looking up at the figure from my current spot on the cold cement.

"Ah, it's not problem, mate. Hey…are you alright?" A pair of sky-blue eyes looked worriedly down at me from beneath chocolate brown bangs, an Australian accent infiltrated his voice.

"Just at a bad time in my life is all, I'll make it through," I reassured.

"You look a tad lonely to me."

"That could be true as well, but I've been lonelier."

"…What would you say to some company? No strings attached." He offered his gloved hand to me, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? No strings at all?"

"Indeed, mate. Come on, I'll take you out to lunch, or somethin'." I smiled slightly and grabbed his hand, allowing him to easily pull me to my feet and lead me down the remainder of the alleyway.

* * *

><p><strong>AGKamon:<strong> Who do you think the mysterious stranger is?

**Bakura:** There's only one character with an Australian accent, it's obvious. Now reply to the review we got.

**AGKamon:** I know, gosh, you'd think he'd stop telling me by now.

_**Little. Miss .Fortune - **_I updated again~! *claps with you* Yes, I think the story will work better if Ryo and Bakura have different bodies from now on. Of course I'd let Marik stay, he's my second favorite character - right after Bakura obviously. Ryo's in third, I think. Oh my gosh, this is one of the best Battle City alternate endings you've seen? *eyes sparkle* I'm so honored, that's so amazing! *Ryo: why are my cheeks being pinched by someone I don't know...?* Ryo's like, one of the cutest characters that exist, in my opinion. He doesn't even try, he's just automatically cute~! I bet you're going to grumble at me even more with this cliffhanger, especially since it marks the end of Neutral. Yes, Waking the Dragons is what the next story's going to follow, which means I'm going to be doing some serious plot-tweaking because Bakura nor Marik appeared in that season, but I'm going to make it work.

**AGKamon: **The next reviews will be replied to in the first chapter of the next story. Since the titles reflect Kayla's position during the story, I'm not going to reveal the title yet. All of you will have to wait. And before you freak out for leaving you with such a suspenseful cliffhanger - I'll probably have the first chapter of the next story up soon.

**Marik:** And we're going to meet the OC that you're pairing me up with, right?

**AGKamon:** Yeah, she'll probably join the authoress notes. Also, Ryo, you're staying.

**Ryo:** I am?

**Kayla: **You are. AG's planning on involving you as much as possible in the next story to make for you not having much time here.

**Ryo:** Thanks, but that's really not necessary! I was just happy to be involved this much!

**Marik:** Nonsense! You, me, and Bakura are going to team up!

**Bakura:** *rolls eyes* Oh great.

**AGKamon:** I'll sign out this chapter. Thanks for reading Neutral! Read and review because I hope the first chapter of the next story will be up soon! *hears knock at the door*

**Kayla:** I'll get it. *answers door* Oh hey, the new OC is here! *chapter ends*


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